NEW: Brown to Hand Out Eight Honorary Doctorate Degrees
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Eight people who have distinguished themselves through their efforts in the arts, sciences, letters, scholarship and public service will receive honorary degrees from Brown University at Commencement on Sunday, May 27, 2012:
- Carolyn Bertozzi, chemist and immunologist;
- Viola Davis, actress;
- John Lewis, civil rights leader and U.S. representative;
- Marilynne Robinson, writer and educator;
- Sebastian Ruth, musician and educator;
- Diane Sawyer, broadcast journalist;
- Gene Sharp, political theorist, advocate of nonviolence; and
- Wei Yang, engineer.
Honorary degrees are awarded by the University’s Board of Fellows and are conferred by the University president — in English and in Latin — during Commencement exercises on the College Green.
None of the recipients will speak at the Commencement ceremony; that honor has been reserved since the University’s earliest days for two members of the graduating class. Several of the honorands will, however, participate in Commencement forums and other public presentations during Commencement Weekend.
