Hank Aaron leads off honorary degree recipients
Baseball legend and civil rights hero Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron received
an
emotional standing ovation when he received his honorary doctor of laws
degree
at commencement. Aaron, whose 755 career home-run record still stands 21
years
after his retirement, has helped raise millions for a number of
charitable
causes. He established the Hank Aaron Rookie League, which brings
together
inner-city residents to transform abandoned lots into baseball fields.
Other
honorary degree recipients at commencement include: W. Maxwell Cowan,
medical
scientist and educator, doctor of science; Paul Erdös,
mathematician,
doctor of science; commencement speaker Henry Louis Gates Jr., literary
scholar, doctor of letters; Alex Gross, teacher and humanist, doctor of
laws;
Maxcy Reddick Hall, journalist, author and mentor, doctor of letters; and
Grace
Crum Rollins, philanthropist, doctor of humane letters.