Release date: May 10, 2007
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark at 404-712-8780 or beverly.clark@emory.edu

Emory University Holds Commencement May 14

Internationally renowned physician, anthropologist and global health advocate Paul Farmer will deliver the keynote address at Emory University's 162nd commencement ceremony Monday, May 14, and will receive an honorary doctor of science degree. The central ceremony, starting at 8 a.m., will be followed by individual college and school diploma ceremonies. Commencement will be broadcast live and then archived via the Internet.

Emory President James Wagner will preside at the 90-minute ceremony. The event will take place on the Emory quadrangle for approximately 3,600 graduating students and their families. Three other individuals also will be recognized during commencement with honorary degrees: environmental sustainability advocate Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface Inc., who will receive a doctor of science; Beverly Benson Long, past president of the World Federation for Mental Health, who will receive a doctor of science; and the late Benny Andrews, a renowned African-American artist, teacher and activist, who will be posthumously awarded a doctor of humane letters degree.

The academic procession under the direction of Chief Marshal Ray DuVarney, professor and chair of physics, will be led across the university's historic quadrangle by the kilt-clad Atlanta Pipe Band. Dressed in full Scottish Highland attire, the drum and bagpipe ensemble will march to "Emory and Old St. Andrews March," written by Emory alumnus Henry D. Frantz Jr. in honor of Emory's sister institution, the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Members of the procession will be dressed in the academic regalia of caps, gowns and hoods adopted by the class of 1902. Depending on their field of study, the hoods of graduates will be scarlet, gold, purple, salmon, sapphire, apricot, white, green or dark blue.

The Thomas Jefferson Award, the university's premier faculty/administrative officer award for significant service to the institution, and the University Scholar/Teacher Award, given on behalf of the United Methodist Church Board of Higher Education and Ministry, will be presented. The Marion Luther Brittain Award, the most prestigious student award for service to the university, also will be given.

Following the central ceremony, students will report to various locations on campus to receive diplomas from their individual schools. The diploma ceremony for Emory College (the undergraduate arts and sciences school) will be held on the quadrangle.

Emory University is one of the nation's leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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