To: Reporters, Editors, Assignment Desks
Newswise — Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the United States House of Representatives, will address seniors graduating from The Johns Hopkins University's schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering at their diploma ceremony at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, May 21. She will also be awarded an honorary degree from Johns Hopkins, as will former Johns Hopkins President William R. Brody.
The ceremony will take place at Homewood Field, the stadium on the northern end of the university's Homewood campus at 3400 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. There will be a press section for working print and broadcast reporters and photographers on the playing surface of Homewood Field, at stage right [audience left].
Identification is required; prior notification of intention to cover the ceremony is preferred. Limited press parking will be available; please notify us in advance if you need parking. See above for contact information.
Earlier on May 21, newly appointed university president Ronald J. Daniels will deliver his first commencement address at the university-wide ceremony. This ceremony will begin at 9:15 a.m. at Homewood Field. Honorary degrees will be awarded at that event to William Goodwin, founder, president and chairman of CCA Industries Inc. and founder of the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research; Richard J. Johns, a pioneer of biomedical engineering who launched the renowned department in the field at Johns Hopkins; and Rep. Tom Lantos, a longtime Democratic congressman from California and the only Holocaust survivor to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, who will be honored posthumously.
Noteworthy speakers at other Johns Hopkins commencement-related events — at various times and locations from Tuesday, May 19, through Friday, May 22 — include Andrés A. Alonso, chief executive officer, Baltimore City Public School System, who will speak to graduates of the School of Education; Richard D. Parsons, chairman of the board, Citigroup Inc., and former CEO and chairman of the board at Time Warner Inc., who will speak to graduates of the Carey Business School; John Astin, actor, director, producer, and current visiting professor of theatre for the Writing Seminars, who will speak to master's degree recipients from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences; Michael M. Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, who will speak to graduates of the Peabody Institute; and Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, who will speak to graduates of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. The ceremonies mark the end of the university's 133rd academic year. Details on the university's various ceremonies are listed below.
About the Graduating Class [as of May 4, 2009]The total number of earned degrees, certificates and diplomas awarded is expected to be about 6,776, as follows: 1,537 bachelor degrees (including 1,097 seniors graduating from the schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering at the Homewood campus); 4,268 master's degrees, 562 doctoral degrees (222 of which are medical degrees); and 409 certificates and diplomas.
About the CeremoniesThe university as a whole and its nine academic divisions will hold the following commencement events:
University-wide Commencement CeremonyThursday, May 21, 9:15 a.m. to approximately noon, Homewood Field, Homewood campus.Speaker: Ronald J. Daniels, president, The Johns Hopkins University.During this ceremony, all university degrees are conferred by the university president. The only graduates who receive their diplomas at this time, however, are doctoral students. The ceremony also recognizes new members of the Society of Scholars. At this time, four honorary degrees of doctor of humane letters also will be awarded. [See above for details on honorary degree recipients].
Arts and Sciences/Engineering Undergraduate Diploma CeremonyThursday, May 21, 1:45 p.m., Homewood Field, Homewood campus.Speaker: Honorable Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. During this ceremony, an anticipated 1,097 seniors from the schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering, who will officially have graduated when degrees were conferred in the morning ceremony, cross the stage to shake hands with the president. Afterwards, they receive their diplomas. A bio of Pelosi is available at http://www.house.gov/pelosi/biography/bio.html
During the ceremony, an honorary degree will be conferred upon William R. Brody, who ended his 12-year tenure as president of Johns Hopkins University on March 2, when President Daniels joined the university. Brody is now president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. A bio of Dr. Brody is available at http://www.salk.edu/about/brody.html
Bloomberg School of Public Health Convocation CeremonyWednesday, May 20, 3:30 p.m., Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Cathedral and Preston streets.Speaker: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Oshinsky, the Jack S. Blanton Chair in History and Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin. Oshinsky won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in the History category for his book, Polio: An American Story, (Oxford University Press, 2005). A bio of Oshinsky is available online at http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/history/faculty/profiles/Oshinsky/David%20M./
G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering Graduate CeremonyWednesday, May 20, 6:30 p.m. Homewood Field, Homewood campus.Speaker: Mark Russell, vice president of engineering, technology and mission assurance, Raytheon Co. With 2008 sales of $23.2 billion, Raytheon specializes in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. Russell has published 16 peer-reviewed papers on active electronically steered arrays and radar systems, missiles, photonic technology, solid-state transmitters and communications systems. He holds 36 patents in the areas of microwave and millimeter wave components, high-range resolution radar applications and missile seekers. Russell's bio is online at http://www.raytheon.com/ourcompany/rtnwcm/groups/public/documents/content/bio_russell.pdf
The School of Medicine Diploma Award CeremonyFriday, May 22, 10:30 a.m., Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Cathedral and Preston Streets.Speaker: Dr. Denton A. Cooley, surgeon-in-chief and president emeritus of the Texas Heart Institute and 1944 graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Cooley founded the Texas Heart Institute in 1962. A world-renowned surgeon, he has pioneered many techniques used in cardiovascular surgery. He performed the first successful human heart transplant in the United States in 1968. In 1969, he became the first heart surgeon to implant an artificial heart in man. His numerous honors and awards include the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. Cooley's bio is online at http://www.texasheart.org/AboutUs/History/cooley.cfm
School of Nursing Diploma and Award Ceremony Thursday, May 21, 2 p.m., Lyric Opera House, 140 West Mount Royal Ave. Speaker: Mary Woolley, president of Research!America, the nation's largest nonprofit public education and advocacy organization seeking to make medical and health research a much higher national priority. Woolley is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She serves on several boards and committees, including the Governing Council of the Institute of Medicine and the National Council for Johns Hopkins Nursing. Woolley's bio is online at http://www.researchamerica.org/mary_woolley
Carey Business School Graduate Diploma Award Ceremony Tuesday, May 19, 6 p.m., Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Cathedral and Preston Streets.Speaker: Richard D. Parsons, chairman of the board at Citigroup Inc., and former CEO and chairman of the board at Time Warner Inc. As president of Time Warner, he oversaw the company's filmed entertainment and music businesses, and all corporate staff functions, including financial activities, legal affairs, public affairs and administration. Upon being named chairman of the board at Citigroup, Parsons said that one of his top priorities is to ensure the board there remains committed to strong, independent corporate governance, especially in today's challenging economic conditions. Bios of Parsons are online at http://www.timewarner.com/corp/management/board_directors/bio/parsons_richard.html and http://www.citigroup.com/citi/press/2009/090121c.htm
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Diploma Award CeremonyThursday, May 21, 3 p.m., Constitution Hall, 18th and D Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.Speaker: Ban Ki-moon, the eighth secretary general of the United Nations. Ban brings 37 years of service both in government and on the global stage to his current post. Prior to his appointment, Ban was minister of foreign affairs and trade for the Republic of Korea, where his guiding vision was of a peaceful Korean peninsula, playing an expanding role for peace and prosperity in the region and the wider world. Ban has long-standing ties with the United Nations, dating back to 1975, when he worked for the Foreign Ministry's United Nations Division. Ban's bio is online at http://www.un.org/sg/biography.shtml School of Education Undergraduate and Graduate Diploma Award CeremonyThursday, May 21, 7:30 p.m., Homewood Field, Homewood campus.Speaker: Andrés A. Alonso, chief executive officer, Baltimore City Public Schools. Alonso was named chief in July 2007 after working at the New York City Department of Education for four years, helping to plan and implement the reform of the largest educational system in the nation. In 2008, at the end of his first year in Baltimore, students reached their highest outcomes in state exams, as well as their highest graduation rate and lowest dropout rates, across all categories of students. Alonso's bio is online at http://www.bcps.k12.md.us/Departments/Chief_Executive_Officer/index.asp
The Peabody Institute Diploma Award CeremonyThursday, May 21, 7:30 p.m., Friedberg Hall, Peabody Institute, 1 E. Mount Vernon Place.Speaker: Michael M. Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, who will receive the 2009 George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America. Kaiser has been president of the Kennedy Center since 2001, earlier serving as executive director of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation, American Ballet Theatre, and the Royal Opera House. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics, magna cum laude, from Brandeis University and a master's degree in management from M.I.T. He has written four books including The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations (2008). Kaiser's bio is online at http://www.kennedy-center.org/about/kaiser.html
Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Master's Diploma Award CeremonyFriday, May 22, 10 a.m., Homewood Field, Homewood campus.Speaker: John Astin, actor, director, producer, and current visiting professor of theater for the Writing Seminars. The Johns Hopkins University Theatre celebrated its fourth full season this academic year in the historic Merrick Barn under the direction of Astin, renowned actor and Johns Hopkins alumnus best known for his onstage portrayals of Edgar Allan Poe and for his role as Gomez Addams in the original Addams Family television series. Astin recently performed in Ken Ludwig's play Leading Ladies at Ford's Theatre in D.C. He returned to Johns Hopkins in 2001 to teach acting and directing. Since then, he has led a renaissance of the school's theater program.
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