Commencement 2008 is Sunday, May 18: University honoring five individuals; political commentator William Schneider '66 will give main address; LIVE STREAM available
May. 15, 2008
Dennis Nealon
Brandeis University
781-736-4205
nealon@brandeis.edu
NOTE: You can share in the excitement of Brandeis University’s 57th Commencement exercises on Sunday, May 18 – from the convenience of your own computer. Beginning at 10:30 a.m., live streaming video of Commencement from the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center will be available on the Brandeis website.
WALTHAM, Mass., -- As it salutes its newest graduates at the 57th commencement exercises May 18, 2008, Brandeis also will present honorary degrees to five esteemed individuals, including CNN political analyst William Schneider, who The Washington Times has dubbed "the nation's electionmeister."
The university will bestow 826 bachelors degrees; 614 masters and 84 doctorates.
Schneider, Brandeis Class of 1966, will deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the ceremony. Others chosen to receive the university's highest honor this year* are: James Carroll, the novelist and journalist whose writings on politics, religion and culture have challenged and inspired readers in America and elsewhere; Dr. Helene D. Gayle, president of CARE USA, a leading humanitarian organization based in Atlanta; Stephen Kay, a member and past chairman of the Brandeis Board of Trustees, and former senior director at Goldman Sachs in Boston; and Professor Karen K. Uhlenbeck, Brandeis PhD'68, the widely acclaimed mathematician and mentor to young women who holds the Sid W. Richardson Foundation Regents Chair in Mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin.
About the keynote speaker
William "Bill" Schneider joined CNN in 1991 and has been named one of the 50 most influential Washington journalists by Washingtonian Magazine. His analysis is regularly featured on CNN's "The Situation Room," "Lou Dobbs Tonight," "Anderson Cooper 360°," "American Morning," "Headline News," and CNN International.
Schneider is also a contributing editor to The National Journal and Atlantic Monthly. He has written extensively on politics and public opinion for The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, The Washington Post and other publications. He is the co-author, with Seymour Martin Lipset, of "The Confidence Gap: Business, Labor and Government in the Public Mind."
He is a past winner of the Brandeis Alumni Achievement Award, and, for a semester in 2002, taught a class at his alma mater on America's electorate as the Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Visiting Professor.
The Brandeis Commencement exercises will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. The university will award doctorate, master's and bachelor's degrees to the members of the Class of 2008.
Brandeis International Business School (IBS) also will honor its 2008 graduates with a commencement ceremony on May 18. Chairman and CEO Emeritus of Ionics Arthur L. Goldstein will deliver the keynote address. This year, IBS will confer degrees to 191 students from over 40 different countries.
* Each of this year's honorary degree recipients is being awarded a Humane Letters degree, with the exception of Uhlenbeck, who is receiving an honorary Doctor of Science degree.
