Clifton Wharton to Deliver Commencement Address

Newswise — Clifton R. Wharton Jr., corporate and higher education leader, diplomat and foreign policy expert, will deliver the commencement address at UNC Asheville on Saturday, May 8. The ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. on the terrace of Ramsey Library. UNC Asheville Chancellor James H. Mullen Jr. will confer honorary doctoral degrees on Wharton as well as science columnist Sharon Begley of The Wall Street Journal, University of Hawaii President Evan S. Dobelle and Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. About 600 students are candidates for degrees. Wharton was chairman and chief executive officer of the largest pension fund in the world, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and the College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA CREF), from 1987 to 1993, when he became President Clinton's Deputy Secretary of State. During the 1970s and '80s, he was president of Michigan State University and chancellor of the State University of New York system. An economist with degrees from Harvard, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago, Wharton spent his early career in foreign economic and agricultural development in Latin America and Southeast Asia working for the Rockefeller family philanthropic interests. He has held appointments under six Presidents and received the 1983 President's Award on World Hunger. He was a director of Equitable Life, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the New York Stock Exchange, Federated Department Stores, Harcourt General, PBS and Tenneco Inc. He is a former trustee of the Council on Foreign Relations Inc., Foreign Policy Association, Aspen Institute, Asia Society and Museum of Modern Art. Sharon Begley has been the science columnist at The Wall Street Journal since April 2002 when she launched the "Science Journal." She is widely known for her ability to break down complex scientific theories and write about them in elegant prose. During her 25 year career at Newsweek, she wrote numerous award winning articles. She has discussed science issues on news programs such as The Charlie Rose Show, Today and The CBS Morning Show, and her articles have appeared in Smart Money, National Wildlife, Modern Maturity and Astronomy magazines. Begley is co author of the books "The Mind and the Brain" (2002) and "The Hand of God" (1999). She holds a bachelor's degree in combined sciences from Yale University. President of the 10 campus University of Hawaii system since 2001, Evan Dobelle is well known as an advocate for the liberal arts, a supporter of research and technology, and a promoter of public private partnerships to spur economic development. Previously he was president of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., City College of San Francisco and Middlesex Community College in Lowell, Mass. His career in public service included posts as commissioner of environmental management and natural resources for Massachusetts and U.S. chief of protocol for the White House in the Carter administration. He holds three degrees in education from the University of Massachusetts and a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University. After his leadership in the revitalization of the Hartford, Conn., neighborhood surrounding Trinity, Dobelle was named New Englander of the Year and was inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Hall of Fame in Atlanta in 1999. The Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel at Morehouse College recognized him in 2002 as a "drum major for the social potential movement." Charlotte businessman Jerry Richardson is the founder and owner of the Carolina Panthers. A two-time All-American at Wofford College and member of the Baltimore Colts' 1959 championship team, Richardson invested his playoff check in a Hardee's restaurant in Spartanburg that was the foundation for Flagstar Companies Inc. His impact on the city is far-reaching. Richardson spearheaded the fund-raising effort for a new library and built the tallest structure in Spartanburg as headquarters for his food-service company, thereby helping to revitalize the downtown. Richardson's contributions to the community have been recognized through a number of distinguished awards: the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and the Order of the Palmetto, North and South Carolina's highest service awards; the Citizen of the Carolinas Award from the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce; Corporate Citizen of the Year from the South Carolina Black Media Group, and Spartanburg Distinguished Citizen of the Year.