10 distinguished figures to receive honorary degrees

Author: Dennis K. Brown

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Ten distinguished figures from business, law, education, social service and the Church will join principal speaker Justice Alan Page as honorary degree recipients at the University of Notre Dame’s 159th Commencement exercises May 16 (Sunday).p. Degrees will be conferred on some 1,850 undergraduates and 600 advanced degree candidates in ceremonies beginning at 2 p.m. (EST) in the Joyce Center on campus.p. Page will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. Other honorary degree recipients are:p. Judge Jose A. Cabranes (doctor of laws)—A judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 1994, Cabranes previously served for 15 years as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Connecticut. After moving with his family from Puerto Rico to New York, he earned degrees from Columbia College, Yale Law School and the University of Cambridge. In addition to his service on the federal bench, he has chaired two major Hispanic civil rights organizations, practiced in a New York City law firm, taught international law at Yale and Rutgers University, and served as special counsel to the governor of Puerto Rico and as head of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s office in Washington. He is the author of a book titled “Citizenship and the American Empire” and coauthor of “Fear of Judging: Sentencing Guidelines in the Federal Courts.”p. Sister Anita de Luna, MCDP, (doctor of laws)—The youngest of nine children of a Texas migrant family, Sister de Luna is an assistant professor of religious studies and director of the Center for Women in Church and Society at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. A nun of the Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence, she served for 10 years as the community’s superior general. She was the first Latina elected president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the first Mexican-American woman to earn a doctoral degree in Christian spirituality. A graduate of Our Lady of the Lake University, she earned master’s degrees from Seattle University and the University of San Francisco, a licentiate in sacred theology from the Jesuit School of Theology, and her doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union. She is the author of “Faith Formation and Popular Religion: Lessons from the Tejano Experience.”p. John L. Hennessy (doctor of engineering)—President of Stanford University since 2000, Hennessy is the Willard and Inez Kerr Bell Endowed Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He previously served as Stanford’s provost, dean of the School of Engineering and chair of the computer science department. He is the principal author of two leading books on computer architecture and design and an indispensable supporter of the RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) technology that has revolutionized the computer industry. His own RISC research led to the cofounding of what is now MIPS Technologies, a multi-million dollar company that designs microprocessors. He is the recipient of numerous national and international awards and has been an adviser to national science and engineering agencies. A graduate of Villanova University, he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.p. Elaine Kim (doctor of laws)—A professor of Asian American studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Kim also serves as associate dean of the Graduate Division. She previously has been chair of the Comparative Ethnic Studies Department, faculty assistant for the Status of Women, and assistant dean in the College of Letters and Science. An outspoken advocate for women and the Asian and Korean communities, she has served on the President’s Commission on Women in U.S. History and is cofounder of Asian Women United of California, the Oakland Korean Community Center, and Asian Immigrant Women Advocates. She is the coeditor of four books, most recently “Fresh Talk/Daring Glazes: Issues in Asian American Visual Art,” and has produced four video projects. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, her master’s degree from Columbia University and her doctorate from UC, Berkeley.p. Terrence J. McGlinn (doctor of laws)—A member of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees since 1994, McGlinn is president and owner of All Star Distributing Company,Inc., a central Pennsylvania beverage distribution company, and general partner of Walnut Street Associates, a private investment partnership. He also is chairman of Colonial Oaks Foundation, a Reading, Pa.-based charitable organization, and of the Reading Hospital and Medical Center. A graduate of Notre Dame, he earned his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and founded McGlinn Capital Management, an investment management firm that now is a subsidiary of Wachovia Bank. He and his wife, Barbara, have been generous benefactors of the University, providing gifts to underwrite the Mendoza College of Business and McGlinn Hall, a women’s residence. He also serves as a Fellow of the University, the governing body that elects trustees, adopts and amends the bylaws, and is specifically charged with maintaining Notre Dame’s Catholic character.p. Rev. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, O.P., (doctor of laws)—A Dominican priest and professor at the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique Francaise in Jerusalem, Father Murphy-O’Connor is a leading authority on freedom, grace and sin in the work of St. Paul, with a particular focus on the Corinthian letters. Among his 14 books are “St. Paul the Letter-Writer: His World, His Options, His Skills,” “Paul of Tarsus: His Story,” “St. Paul: A Critical Life,” and “What is Religious Life?”He also wrote “The Holy Land: An Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700,” now in its fourth edition, and has published hundreds of articles in journals, dictionaries, encyclopedias and other publications. Born in Ireland, Father Murphy-O’Connor earned his doctoral degree from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He spends his summers teaching as a visiting scholar at universities worldwide, including every other year at Notre Dame.p. Homer A. Neal (doctor of science)—A high energy physicist at the University of Michigan, Neal participates in the DZERO collaboration that in 1995 discovered the top quark. His areas of expertise include the design of particle detectors, high speed electronics, image pattern recognition algorithms, event reconstruction and data analysis, and large scale database management. He holds the Samuel A. Goudsmit Chair in Physics and is director of Michigan’s ATLAS Collaboratory Project. Formerly vice president for research and chair of the physics department, he served during the 1996-97 academic year as Michigan’s interim president, the first African-American to lead the university. Before his appointment to the Michigan faculty in 1987, he was vice president for academic affairs and provost at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and dean for research and graduate development at Indiana.p. James D. Sinegal (doctor of laws)—Sinegal is founder, president and chief executive officer of Costco Wholesale Corp., an Issaquah, Wash.-based warehouse club retailer with 430 stores, 92,000 employees and some $50 billion in annual sales. With more than 40 years of experience in the retail mass merchandising field, he has a reputation for creating a company culture in which worker loyalty is rewarded with generous wage and benefit packages. Prior to founding Costco in 1983, Sinegal was president of Sinegal/Chamberlin Associates, a firm acting as a broker and sales representative for a variety of food and non-food products. He also has served as executive vice president of the Price Company, vice president of merchandising for Builders Emporium, and in several administrative positions with Fed-Mart Corp, a discount retail chain.p. Roxanne Spillett (doctor of laws)—As president of Boys&Girls Clubs of America since 1996, Spillett leads the nation’s fastest-growing youth development organization. With a primary focus on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, the organization serves some 3.6 million girls and boys through more than 3,300 affiliates. During her presidency she has emphasized serving children in nontraditional environments, including public housing and Native American lands. A graduate of the State University of New York, she has devoted her entire professional career to the health and well being of children. Before joining Boys&Girls Clubs in 1978, she served as a teacher and curriculum writer for New York state schools and as a program specialist for Girls Scouts of the USA. She has taughtmaster’s courses at Notre Dame and Emory University and serves on the board of Emory’s Goizueta School of Business.p. Peter Tannock (doctor of laws)—As vice chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia, Tannock is the leader of the only private Catholic university in Western Australia, a rapidly growing institution located in Fremantle. UND Australia’s founding in 1990 was inspired by its namesake in South Bend, Ind., and, though there are no financial or legal ties between the institutions, several Notre Dame faculty, including President Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., serve as trustees and governors of the school. Tannock has led the institution since 1992, overseeing growth from a handful of postgraduate students to a university with 3,500 students offering undergraduate and graduate study in the arts, business, education, health, law, science and technology, and theology. He was educated at Christian Brothers College (Perth), the University of Western Australia, and Johns Hopkins University. He previously served as professor of education and dean of the faculty of education at the University of Western Australia.

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