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Deval Patrick to Deliver Commencement Address
Massachusetts governor and six others will receive honorary degrees on May 17
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will deliver the commencement address at Tufts University’s 153rd Commencement on May 17.
“In these challenging economic times, we need to reaffirm the importance of education to both the individual and society,” says President Lawrence S. Bacow. “Governor Deval Patrick’s personal journey from the south side of Chicago to the highest reaches of society speaks to the transformative power of education. We are grateful to him for sharing his insights with this year’s graduates as they prepare to put into practice what they have learned at Tufts.”
“Governor Deval Patrick’s personal journey from the south side of Chicago to the highest reaches of society speaks to the transformative power of education,” says President Lawrence S. Bacow. Photo: Courtesy of the Governor’s Office
Patrick was elected governor in 2006. Born and raised on Chicago’s south side, he received a scholarship to Milton Academy at the age of 14 and graduated from Harvard with honors in 1978. He was the first in his family to attend college.
After a year working on a United Nations project in Sudan, he returned to Harvard to earn a law degree. He was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration, the nation’s top civil rights post, and later was appointed chair of Texaco’s Equality and Fairness Task Force, which was widely recognized for creating a model for fostering an equitable workplace.
Patrick later became vice president and general counsel for Texaco. He then was executive vice president and general counsel for the Coca-Cola Co. He has served on numerous charitable and corporate boards as well as the Commission on Federal Election Reform.
At commencement, which begins at 9 a.m. on the green on the Medford/Somerville campus, Patrick will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree.
Six other distinguished leaders in fields ranging from astrophysics to foreign affairs will also receive honorary doctorates during commencement.
David Burke, A57, whose career reflects a commitment to public service and civic engagement through senior positions with U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), Gov. Hugh Carey (D-N.Y.), ABC News, CBS News, the Dreyfus Corp. and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Voice of America, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.
Leslie H. Gelb, A59, president emeritus and senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and a respected voice in journalism, politics, academia and public policy, will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. On Saturday, May 16, Gelb will address graduates of the Fletcher School during their annual Class Day ceremonies.
Sister Margaret Leonard, LSA, executive director and the moving spirit behind Boston’s Project Hope, a community-based multi-service agency dedicated to preventing homelessness, will receive an honorary doctor of public service degree.
Patricia Q. Stonesifer is founding CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and chair of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. She spent 20 years in the technology sector, including leading Microsoft’s consumer products division, and will receive an honorary doctor of public service degree.
C. Megan Urry, J77, the Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Yale University, director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics and chair of the physics department at Yale, will receive an honorary doctor of science degree.
Robert A. Weinberg, a founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the director of the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will receive an honorary doctor of science degree.
For more information on commencement, go to http://commencement.tufts.edu.
