Frank Rhodes to Deliver UNCA Commencement Address

For Immediate ReleaseApril 21, 2003

Photos of speakers and honorands available

Frank Rhodes to Deliver UNCA Commencement Address May 17;Four Distinguished Individuals to Receive Honorary Degrees

Eminent educational leader Frank Rhodes will give the keynote address at UNC Asheville's commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17. Rhodes is one of four accomplished individuals who will receive honorary degrees. The others are former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Judge Henry Frye; Yolanda Moses, an acclaimed cultural anthropologist and president of the American Association for Higher Education; and Hugh Morton, regional conservationist and owner of Grandfather Mountain. The four recipients will each be awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. Commencement will be held at 9:30 a.m. on the terrace of Ramsey Library. Some 500 students are expected to graduate.

Rhodes is professor of geological sciences and president emeritus of Cornell University, where he served for 18 years. A native of Great Britain, he has resided in the United States for many years and has come to be regarded as one of America's most respected educational leaders. Rhodes holds three degrees from the University of Birmingham, England and is a former Fulbright scholar and Fulbright distinguished fellow, a National Science Foundation senior visiting research fellow, a visiting fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, and an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. Rhodes has published widely in the fields of geology, paleontology, evolution, the history of science and education. He is the former chair of the American Council on Education, the Association of American Universities, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the National Science Board. He is currently serving as president of the American Philosophical Society.

Frye served as Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court from 1999 to 2001, and prior to that for sixteen years as an associate justice. His career began in 1968, when he became the first African American to be elected to the N.C. House of Representatives in the 20th century. He served in the State House for 12 years and was then elected to a two-year term in the N.C. Senate. He is a distinguished visiting professor of political science and justice at North Carolina A&T State University. Frye holds degrees from N.C. A&T State and the UNC Chapel Hill Law School.

Morton is one of North Carolina's most effective advocates for conservation of the state's natural environment. As the owner of Grandfather Mountain, he has been an exemplary steward, preserving this natural treasure while providing access and environmental education for visitors. Morton has also played a crucial role in raising public awareness of the threat posed by air pollution through the production of a major documentary for PBS. In addition to his distinguished public leadership, Morton is an accomplished photographer and photojournalist, whose work has appeared in publications ranging from road atlases to sports histories.

Moses, a nationally acclaimed cultural anthropologist, is an expert on cultural diversity. She is the author of numerous articles on issues related to cultural change in the United States and in the Caribbean as well as cultural change and diversity in public policy and higher education. Moses is president of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), a professional membership association for leaders of the nation's colleges and universities. Prior to assuming this role, she served from 1993-1999 as president of The City College of New York and was the first African American to serve as president of the 11,000-member American Anthropological Association. Moses earned her bachelor's degree at California State College at San Bernardino and her doctorate from the University of California at Riverside.

For more information about Commencement, call UNCA's Academic Affairs Office at 828/251-6470.