Newswise — Retiring U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes, Maryland's longest serving U.S. senator, will speak to graduating University of Maryland seniors at spring commencement on May 21.
"Senator Paul Sarbanes is a champion of higher education in Maryland and higher ethics everywhere," said University of Maryland President C.D. Mote Jr. "He supports the University's commitment to serve society, and he fights tirelessly and eloquently to both make Maryland a technological powerhouse and deliver a high quality of life for our citizens."
Sarbanes has procured millions of Federal research and training dollars for Maryland colleges and universities including support for the Maryland Institute of Minority Achievement and Urban Education in the university's college of education and support for the state's Academic Health Education Centers. In 2005, Sarbanes, along with U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, obtained for the university a $750,000 grant for Firefighter Safety Research and Development that was awarded through the Department of Homeland Security.
At the national level, Sarbanes' support for education includes his work to double the maximum Pell Grant award for students, to increase funding for college work study and other aid-based programs, and to secure full funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act."
In the environmental sector, Sarbanes is among the leading advocates of legislation to protect the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary, and to educate citizens about it.
Sarbanes has served as a United States Congressman representing Maryland for 40 years. His career began when he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1966. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1970, where he served for three consecutive terms. During that time, he served on House Watergate Committee that helped to impeach President Richard Nixon.
Sarbanes was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976, and re-elected in 1982, 1988, 1994, and 2000. He is Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and is a senior member of the Foreign Relations, Budget, and Joint Economic Committees.
Sarbanes is most commonly known for his work on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act following the financial collapse of Enron Co., in 2001. As Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Sarbanes drafted legislation designed to reform the accounting industry and restore investor confidence.
SELECTED BY STUDENTS
Sarbanes was chosen by a student Commencement Committee that said he was selected to commemorate the university's 150th anniversary and Sarbanes' five-term career.
Committee Co-Chairman MaryBeth Hanley, a senior dance major, told the student newspaper, the Diamondback, "We were looking for someone who was going to relate to the students as well as inspire them with their own accomplishments."
Sarbanes was born on Feb. 3, 1933, in Salisbury, Md. to Spyros and Matina Sarbanes, immigrants from Laconia, Greece. His parents, who owned a restaurant in Salisbury, emphasized the importance of education as the key to greater opportunities.
Following graduation from Wicomico High School, Sarbanes attended Princeton University on an academic and athletic scholarship, where he graduated in 1954. From Princeton, Sarbanes had the opportunity to continue his academic endeavors as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He subsequently attended Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1960.
After working at various law firms in Baltimore, he was sought to serve the public guided by the belief that "an equitable government should be the right of all citizens."
The University of Maryland's commencement will be held at 7 pm in the Comcast Center on Sunday, May 21, 2006. Individual department and school ceremonies will be held at various campus locations the following day. For more information please refer to http://www.commencement.umd.edu.
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