The University will also bestow honorary degrees on seven other notable figures at Commencement this year. Fordham will grant a doctorate of humane letters to Bill Baccaglini, former CEO of the New York Foundling; Kim Bepler, philanthropist and trustee fellow; Rosamond Blanchet, R.S.H.M., MC ’62, area leader and former provincial superior of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary; Mandell Crawley, GABELLI ’09, managing director and chief human resources officer at Morgan Stanley; and Patrick J. Foye, FCRH ’78, LAW ’81, former chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Baccaglini will be the speaker at the Graduate School of Social Service ceremony on May 24, while Crawley will speak at the Gabelli School diploma ceremony for master’s and doctoral graduates, also on May 24. Laura Swain, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, will receive an honorary doctorate of laws and will speak at the Law School diploma ceremony on May 23. Archbishop of Washington Wilton Cardinal Gregory, presider at the Baccalaureate Mass at Rose Hill on May 20, will receive an honorary doctorate of divinity.

Fordham conferred an honorary degree upon the outgoing head of the United Nations General Assembly, His Excellency Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, in a ceremony held Sept. 12 on the University’s Bronx campus.

The conferral of a of Doctor of Laws honoris causa, upon Al-Nasser, a tireless champion for the peaceful settlement of disputes through resolution, was doubly poignant given the tragic attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya just a day earlier, said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham.

“It is an honor beyond words that you are with us this afternoon,” said Father McShane. “On this day when the world will be focused on Libya it is vitally important for Fordham to stand up in the face of horror and affirm the goodness of one heart, and the untiring work you have done for peace and justice throughout the world.

“It is a great grace to hold you up as an example to be looked to and followed,’ he said. “You have shown us truly the way to peace, the way to dialog, the way to conversation, the way to building up the human family.”

Al-Nasser was elected as president of the U.N. General Assembly’s 66th session on June 22, 2011 and assumed presidency on Sept. 13. In his year of service, he has worked to advance international peace and security, sustainable development, improvement of international disaster response, and to revitalize the Assembly’s critical role in promoting these causes.

A native of Doha, Qatar, Al-Nasser served as the state’s ambassador and permanent representative to the U.N. from 1998 until 2011. In this capacity, he served as chairman of the General Assembly’s Special Political and Deconolonization (Fourth) Committee, president of the General Assembly High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation, and chairman of the Group of 77 and China at the U.N. in New York. Prior to that, Al-Nasser served in diplomatic posts in Beirut, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

In December 2006, while serving as president of the U.N. Security Council, Al-Nasser led the council as it took action to fight terrorism and protect journalists in armed conflict.

Al-Nasser’s diplomatic appointments have taken him into war-torn neighborhoods, African refugee camps and, recently, through the post-Gaddafi devastation in Libya.

“A diplomat’s constant effort, often behind the public glare, is to search for peace where there is war, to find a solid basis for consensus, for mediation, and, even better, for the prevention of conflicts,” he said, emphasizing that such work is often accomplished beyond the official meeting or conference hall.

In accepting the honor, Al Nasser praised the alliances between scholars and those working in the field, characterizing programs such as the IIHA as mechanisms that can “overcome cultural barriers and result in a civilization that unites, rather than divides.”

Following the completion of his U.N. term, Al-Nasser will begin serving as IIHA’s Diplomat-in-Residence.

“Let us resolve, scholars and diplomats, to work for the advent of a better world,” he said.

Fordham University will present honorary degrees to eight leaders in national security, religion, the arts, medicine, business and government service during its 2012 commencement exercises.

John Brennan, FCRH ’77, the Obama administration’s deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security, and this year’s commencement speaker, will receive a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, at the 167th commencement on Saturday, May 19, at the Rose Hill campus.

Also being awarded honorary degrees on May 19 are singer Tony Bennett, pediatrician Eugenie Doyle, MC ’43, and actress Phylicia Rashad.

Newly elevated Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York, was the principal celebrant and homilist at the Fordham College at Rose Hill Class of 2012’s Baccalaureate Mass, held on May 18 in the Rose Hill Gymnasium. He received a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, that evening.

The Fordham School of Law, the Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA), and the Graduate School of Social Service (GSS) will present additional honorary degrees at their diploma ceremonies.

Michelle DePass, LAW ‘92, assistant administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will receive a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, on May 20, where she will also address the law school’s graduating class.

Brooklyn congressman Edolphus Towns will receive a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, at the May 20 GSS diploma ceremony, where he will give the address.

Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund, will give the address and receive a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, at the May 22 GBA diploma ceremony.

John Brennan received his current appointment in 2009, following a career that included 25 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, with a four-year stint as Middle East station chief in Saudi Arabia. He works with the federal government’s intelligence agencies and the military on counterterrorism efforts around the globe, and on issues of homeland security.

In 2004, he was named director of the federal government’s National Counterterrorism Center, which was established that year to coordinate intelligence from agencies collecting data around the world. He left government service briefly in 2005 to become CEO of Analysis Corp., a private firm that contracts with government agencies on security and intelligence issues.

The son of Irish immigrants, Brennan was raised in North Bergen, N.J., and graduated from St. Joseph’s High School in West New York. He enrolled at Fordham as a commuter student, soon becoming enthralled with the Middle East through the lectures of John Entelis, Ph.D., professor of political science and director of Fordham’s Middle East Studies Program.

While a Fordham student, Brennan traveled to Indonesia to work at the U.S. Embassy and to research the politics of oil. He studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo.

Tony Bennett, legendary vocalist, accomplished painter and ardent supporter of arts education, got his start as a singing waiter in Astoria, N.Y.’s Italian restaurants. During World War II, he faced bitter combat in Germany, an experience that made him a pacifist.

Bennett climbed the charts with early crooning hits like “Because of You” and “Rags to Riches” before recording his signature “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” in 1962. Late 1950s albums The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings established him as one of today’s great jazz singers. His close friend Frank Sinatra famously said, “For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business.”

In 2001 he founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in his hometown of Astoria with his wife Susan Benedetto, FCLC ’90, GSE ’05.

True to his generosity in nurturing young talent, ticket sales from his 85th birthday bash at the Metropolitan Opera benefited Exploring the Arts, a nonprofit committed to strengthening arts education in the city’s public schools.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan was appointed to the College of Cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI in January 2012. The Cardinal was elevated in the Consistory on Feb. 18, 2012 in Rome.

Cardinal Dolan was named Archbishop of New York by the Pope in February 2009, and was installed as archbishop in April of that year. In November 2010, Cardinal Dolan was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He succeeded Cardinal Francis George of Chicago in the position.

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Cardinal Dolan was ordained to the priesthood in 1976. He served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from June 2002 until his 2009 New York appointment. He has served as a faculty member in the Department of Ecumenical Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Michelle DePass, LAW ’92, was appointed by President Obama and currently serves as assistant administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs at the Environmental Protection Agency. Throughout her distinguished career she has worked as a lawyer, public administrator, and policy analyst with environmental and human and civil rights organizations, academic institutions, labor, and all levels of government.

She has served as executive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, senior policy advisor at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, environmental manager of the City of San Jose, and William Kunstler Racial Justice Fellow with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York.

In addition to her Fordham law degree, DePass has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tufts University, and a master of public administration from Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs.

Eugenie Doyle, MC ’43, M.D., professor emeritus of pediatric cardiology, enjoyed an impressive 47-year career in medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, where she was an early practitioner in her field.

“It was a great field to get into,” said Doyle, who graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1946, when just 12 percent of the medical students were women. Surgeons were performing the very first operations on infants with “blue baby syndrome.” The advent of open-heart surgery soon followed. Devastated parents became very grateful, she said, upon learning that their children could be saved.

In addition to patient care and teaching duties at NYU, Doyle wrote and published several papers on children with rheumatic heart disease. She directed the hospital’s pediatric cardiology department from 1958 until her retirement in 1993.

Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to the problems of poverty.

Acumen Fund aims to create a world beyond poverty by investing in social enterprises, emerging leaders, and breakthrough ideas. Under Novogratz’s leadership, the fund has invested more than $72 million in 65 companies in South Asia and Africa, all focused on delivering affordable healthcare, water, housing and energy to the poor.

Prior to Acumen Fund, Novogratz founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership programs at the Rockefeller Foundation.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was recently named to The Daily Beast’s 25 Smartest People of the Decade. She is the author of a memoir, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World (Rodale, 2009).

She holds an M.B.A. from Stanford and a bachelor’s degree in Economics/International Relations from the University of Virginia.

Phylicia Rashad is best known to TV audiences as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show. Successful, elegant, wise and loving, the character Rashad created remains a role model for working mothers everywhere. This fall, thanks to a generous gift from Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington, FCLC ’77, she took on a new role in which she brought those same qualities to students at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus.

As the University’s first Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre, Rashad taught a semester-long course called “Creating a Character.” In helping choose Rashad, Washington said she “will provide the care, compassion and that extra push to help take students where they’re meant to go.”

Rashad, who earned a B.F.A. in theater magna cum laude from Howard University, recently made her directorial debut at the helm of the Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. Her Broadway credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Wiz, and A Raisin in the Sun, for which she won a 2004 Tony Award for best actress in a play.

On November 2, 2010, voters in Brooklyn’s 10th Congressional District elected Edolphus “Ed” Towns to his 15th term in the United States House of Representatives, signaling their continued confidence in his leadership and ability to deliver for his constituents.  Over the course of a career in Congress that began in 1982, Congressman Towns has brought millions of dollars to a wide range of projects in the 10th District, the Borough of Brooklyn, and the City of New York.

As leader of the Congressional Social Work Caucus that he inaugurated during the 111th Congress, Towns has emerged as a champion for children and youth. He has spearheaded numerous forums on issues pertaining to children and youth and has introduced and co-sponsored legislation designed to support them.

He views his work in Congress through the lens of his commitment to improving the lives of others as a professional social worker and ordained minister. He is the author of Harvesting the Fruits of Power (Morton Books, 2010).
Towns holds an M.S.W. from Adelphi University, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

John Brennan, FCRH ’77, the Obama administration’s deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security, and this year’s commencement speaker, will receive a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, at the 167th commencement on Saturday, May 19, at the Rose Hill campus. The event will be streamed live at http://www.fordham.edu/media/

Also being awarded honorary degrees on May 19 are singer Tony Bennett, pediatrician Eugenie Doyle, MC ’43, and actress Phylicia Rashad.

Newly-elevated Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York, will be the principal celebrant and homilist at the Fordham College at Rose Hill Class of 2012’s Baccalaureate Mass, to be held May 18 in the Rose Hill Gymnasium. He will also receive a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, that evening.

The Fordham School of Law, the Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA), and the Graduate School of Social Service (GSS) will present additional honorary degrees at their diploma ceremonies.

Michelle DePass, LAW ‘92, assistant administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs in the Environmental Protection Agency, will receive a doctorate of letters, honoris causa, on May 20, where she will also address the law school’s graduating class.

Brooklyn congressman Edolphus Towns will receive a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, at theMay 20 GSS diploma ceremony, where he will give the address.

Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund, will give the address and receive a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, at the May 22 GBA diploma ceremony.

John Brennan received his appointment in 2009, following a career that included 25 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, with a four-year stint as Middle East station chief in Saudi Arabia. He works with the federal government’s intelligence agencies, and military brass on counterterrorism efforts around the globe, and on issues of homeland security.

In 2004, he was named director of the federal government’s National Counterterrorism Center, which was established that year to coordinate intelligence from the myriad agencies collecting data around the world. He left government service briefly in 2005 to become CEO of Analysis Corp., a private firm which contracts with government agencies on security and intelligence issues.

The son of Irish immigrants, Brennan was raised in North Bergen, N.J., and graduated from St. Joseph’s High School in West New York. He enrolled at Fordham as a commuter student, soon becoming enthralled with the Middle East through the lectures of John Entelis, Ph.D., professor of political science and director of Fordham’s Middle East Studies Program.

While a Fordham student, Brennan traveled to Indonesia to work at the U.S. Embassy and to research the politics of oil. He studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo.

Tony Bennett, legendary vocalist, accomplished painter and ardent supporter of arts education, got his start as a singing waiter in Astoria’s Italian restaurants. During World War II, he faced bitter combat in Germany, an experience that made him a pacifist.

Bennett climbed the charts with early crooning hits like “Because of You” and “Rags to Riches” before recording his signature “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” in 1962. Late 1950s albums The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings established him as one of today’s great jazz singers. His close friend Frank Sinatra famously said, “For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business.”

In 2001 he founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in his hometown of Astoria with his wife Susan Benedetto, FCLC ’90, GSE ’05.

True to his generosity in nurturing young talent, ticket sales from his 85th birthday bash at Metropolitan Opera benefited Exploring the Arts, a non-profit committed to strengthening arts education in the city’s public schools.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan was appointed to the College of Cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI in January 2012. The Cardinal was elevated in the Consistory on February 18, 2012 in Rome.

Cardinal Dolan was named Archbishop of New York by the Pope in February 2009, and was installed as archbishop in April of that year. In November 2010, Cardinal Dolan was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He succeeded Cardinal Francis George of Chicago in the position.

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Cardinal Dolan was ordained to the priesthood in 1976. He served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from June 2002 until his 2009 New York appointment.  He has served as a faculty member in the Department of Ecumenical Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Michelle DePass, LAW ’92, was appointed by President Obama and currently serves as assistant administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs at the Environmental Protection Agency. Throughout her distinguished career she has worked as a lawyer, public administrator, and policy analyst with environmental and human and civil rights organizations, academic institutions, labor, and all levels of government.

She has served as executive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, senior policy advisor to the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, environmental manager of the City of San Jose, and William Kunstler Racial Justice Fellow with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York.

In addition to her Fordham law degree, DePass has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tufts University, and a master of public administration from Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs.

Eugenie Doyle, MC ’43, M.D., professor emeritus of pediatric cardiology, enjoyed an impressive 47-year career in medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, where she was an early practitioner in her field.

“It was a great field to get into,” said Doyle, who graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1946, when women comprised just 12 percent of the medical students. Surgeons were performing the very first operations on infants with “blue baby syndrome.” The advent of open-heart surgery soon followed. Devastated parents became very grateful, she said, upon learning that their children could be saved.

In addition to patient care and teaching duties at NYU, Doyle wrote and published several papers on children with rheumatic heart disease. She led the hospital’s pediatric cardiology department as director from 1958 until her retirement in 1993.

Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to the problems of poverty.

Acumen Fund aims to create a world beyond poverty by investing in social enterprises, emerging leaders, and breakthrough ideas. Under Novogratz’ leadership, the fund has invested more than $72 million in 65 companies in South Asia and Africa, all focused on delivering affordable healthcare, water, housing and energy to the poor.

Prior to Acumen Fund, Novogratz founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership programs at the Rockefeller Foundation.

She is a frequent speaker at forums, including the Clinton Global Initiative, TED, and the Aspen Ideas Festival. She is the author of a memoir, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World (Rodale, 2009).

She holds an M.B.A. from Stanford and a B.A. in Economics/International Relations from the University of Virginia.

Phylicia Rashad is best known to TV audiences as Clair Huxtable onThe Cosby Show. Successful, elegant, wise and loving, the character Rashad created remains a role model for working mothers everywhere. This fall, thanks to a generous gift from Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington, FCLC ’77, she took on a new role—and bringing those same qualities to students at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus.

As the University’s first Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre, Rashad taught a semester-long course called “Creating a Character.” In helping choose Rashad, Washington said she “will provide the care, compassion and that extra push to help take students where they’re meant to go.”

Rashad, who earned a B.F.A. in theater magna cum laude from Howard University, recently made her directorial debut at the helm of the Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. Her Broadway credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Wiz and A Raisin in the Sun, for which she won a 2004 Tony Award for best actress in a play.

On November 2, 2010 voters in Brooklyn’s 10th Congressional District elected Edolphus “Ed” Towns to his 15th term in the United States House of Representatives, signaling their continued confidence in his leadership and ability to deliver for his constituents.  Over the course of a career in Congress that began in 1982, Congressman Towns has brought millions of dollars to a wide range of projects in the 10th District, the Borough of Brooklyn, and the City of New York.

As leader of the Congressional Social Work Caucus (CSWC) that he inaugurated during the 111th Congress, Towns has emerged as a champion for children and youth.  He has spearheaded numerous forums on issues pertaining to children and youth and has introduced and co-sponsored legislation designed to support young people.

He views his work in Congress through the lens of his commitment to improving the lives of others as a professional social worker and ordained minister.  He is the author of Harvesting the Fruits of Power(Morton Books, 2010).

Towns holds a M.S.W. from Adelphi University, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Fordham conferred an honorary degree on the new head and father of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and honored his predecessor on Nov. 20 at the Rose Hill campus.

His Beatitude Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the new 41-year-old patriarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, received a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, at a ceremony in the University Church. More than 800 members of the Fordham, Catholic and Ukrainian communities filled the church to capacity.

In the same ceremony, Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan unveiled and blessed a newly installed marble mosaic coat of arms of Ukraine’s patriarch emeritus, His Eminence Lubomyr Cardinal Husar, GSAS ’66, major archbishop of Kyiv-Halych. Due to ill health, the cardinal was unable to attend.

Cardinal Husar and Prelate Shevchuk have played key roles in the reemergence of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in an independent Ukraine; for 65 years under Communist rule, the church had been officially annulled due to government pressure.

Cardinal Husar, who shepherded the rebuilding the church after the nation gained its independence in 1991, served as prelate for more than a decade. He stepped down earlier this year and was replaced by Prelate Shevchuk.

“As we honor these two remarkable archbishops, we celebrate the spirit of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, both in Ukraine and in the Diaspora,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham.

“The history of the Ukrainian church has been rich in holiness, rich in wisdom, and altogether too rich in martyrs,” Father McShane said. “In spite of the trials that it has endured, however, for more than a millennium the Ukrainian Church has borne heroic witness to the great king on whose feast we gather this afternoon.”

Prelate Shevchuk, in accepting the honorary degree, made light of his age: He is one of the youngest prelates in the world and has been credited with attracting young, educated and invigorated believers to his church.

“One of my Angelicum professors in Rome used to joke that honorary doctorates are usually given to those people for whom it is too late to get an ordinary one,” said the prelate, who holds a doctorate in theology from Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and speaks several languages.

The prelate insisted that, while such an honor hardly befitted him, it did indeed befit “the martyred church that I have been called to carry on my shoulders.”

“I personally experienced this church when she was despised, scorned and humiliated,” said the prelate, who grew up under Communist rule. “But despite all of this, she remained the authentic church of the Risen Christ. So it is this church, to her Christian wisdom and her intellectual life, that these honors befit.”

Also speaking were the Rev. Mark Arey from the Greek Orthodox Church in America and Archbishop Antony, eparchial bishop from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the United States—a church that has been historically at odds with Catholics in the Ukraine. The speakers recognized Fordham as a place where different branches of Christianity can come together in dialogue around their common heritage.

“[Prelate Shevchuk] is the shepherd for the new church,” Archbishop Antony said. “I see a man who has the same dedication as Cardinal Husar and the desire to build unity between our churches.”

Participating in Sunday’s procession were Fordham students and faculty members of Ukrainian heritage. The Fordham banners were carried by Global Outreach students who are planning a trip to Ukraine this spring.

“It means a lot to have him here in New York, and especially to have him at my university,” said Fordham College at Lincoln Center senior Yuliana Kletsun. “It creates a bond and relationship with my homeland that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.”

At a post-ceremonial gathering at the McGinley Center, Stephen Freedman, Ph.D., provost of the University and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, announced the formation of a memorandum of understanding between Fordham and Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv.

The universities have agreed to partner on faculty research, faculty and student visits, and to foster exchange of academic publications across the arts and sciences.

With some 5.5 million members worldwide, the Ukrainian Catholic Church acts as a bridge between Eastern and Western Christianity. It is the largest sui juris Eastern church in full communion with the Holy See.

Fordham co-sponsored the event with the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation.

Ukrainian Church Leaders Honored

Benigno S. Aquino III, the 15th president of the Philippines, was feted for his devotion to good governance and anti-corruption measures in an honorary degree ceremony on Sept. 19 at the Rose Hill campus.

In his opening remarks, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, noted the deep ties between Jesuits and the Philippines.

Aquino—the son of former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and former president Corazon C. Aquino—attended the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University from grade school through college. He graduated in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

“Many members of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus dreamed of serving in Mindanao, Zamboanga, Davao, Novaliches, Quezon City and Manila,” Father McShane said to the audience of students, media and dignitaries who packed the Keating First auditorium.

“The dream of dreams for many of my brethren was to teach at the Ateneo de Manila, and to lead its students to victory over Santo Tomas and LaSalle!” he said.

Father McShane noted that Fordham honored Aquino’s mother 25 years ago in a similar ceremony. Like her, Aquino received an honorary doctor of laws degree, honoris causa. His name will be carved into the steps of the Terrace of Presidents in front of Keating Hall, directly next to his mother’s name.

“Your father inspired a nation. Your mother sparked a revolution of hope in the hearts not only of Filipinos, but of all who love freedom. Following in their footsteps, you have lived your life in the service of others. In fact, like your parents, throughout your life, you have given yourself over to the great and saving work of nurturing democracy,” he said.

“You have made the rule of law and the care of the poor your special concerns, and in the process, you have shown that a life of principled service can—and does—change the world.”

Aquino spoke about the importance of listening to the will of the people, noting that one of his first acts was to cut back on the sirens and police escorts that government officials were using on a regular basis. This was meant to remind them that they are public servants, not masters, he said.

“The maintenance of democracy has not been easy. But it has been a task to which my countrymen have rededicated themselves time and again, regardless of the desire of some of our leaders to return to the days of impunity and plunder,” he said.

“While far from perfect in its implementation, our basic law has endured because of our people’s proving that the vow they made —‘Never again!’—after the dictator fled, would neither be taken back nor taken away.”

Aquino also noted that it would take more than his own administration’s efforts to restore the Philippines.

“If we are our brother’s keeper, then government is too important a task to leave strictly in the hands of officials,” he said.

“Volunteer organizations, civic associations and NGOs have taken to working with the government to scrutinize, suggest and partner with local and national agencies to cut red tape, make policies relevant and achieve inclusive growth—where all citizens have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.”

Ultimate success, Aquino said, would be measured by how ordinary people become accustomed to having their voices heard by the government.

“While I am the instrument of the people’s will, I too, have my own ambition—that with this rediscovered appreciation of their strength, and their renewed optimism and vigor, the Filipino people, by the end of my term, will have grown so accustomed to genuine public service and so intolerant of corruption, that whether a saint or a sinner succeeds me, no one will be able to roll back the tide of progress and good governance,” he said.

The University will present the 2009 commencement speaker, former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw, with a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa. Also being recognized with that honorary degree at commencement will be Hon. Michael Bloomberg, mayor of the City of New York.

Three other guests will be so noted at the Rose Hill ceremony: Justin Lin, chief economist of the World Bank; Frank J. Macchiarola, former chairman of the New York City Charter Revision Commission; and Kathryn Wylde, chief executive officer of the Partnership for New York City.

Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City public school system, will receive a doctor of laws degree, honoris causa, on May 17 at Fordham Law School’s diploma ceremony. Joe Moglia (FCRH ’71), chief executive officer of TD Ameritrade, will receive a doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, on May 19 at the Graduate School of Business Administration’s diploma ceremony.

In addition, Mindy Fullilove, M.D., professor of clinical psychiatry and clinical sociomedical sciences at Columbia University Medical Center, will deliver the keynote on May 21 at the diploma ceremony for the Graduate School of Social Service.

Hon. Michael Bloomberg is the 108th Mayor of the City of New York. Elected to office in 2001, in his first term, Mayor Bloomberg cut crime; created jobs; unleashed a boom of affordable housing; implemented ambitious public health strategies, including the successful ban on smoking in restaurants and bars; gained control of the nation’s largest school district; and improved the efficiency of government.

In 2005, he was re-elected by a diverse coalition of support. In his second term, while balancing the budget and driving unemployment to a record low, Mayor Bloomberg has taken on a number of new challenges. He launched an innovative program to combat poverty. He’s undertaken a far-reaching campaign to fight global warming. And as co-founder of a bipartisan coalition of more than 200 mayors from every region of the country, he is working to keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals and off city streets.

Bloomberg began a small start-up company called Bloomberg LP in 1981. Today, Bloomberg LP has over 250,000 subscribers to its financial news and information service. Headquartered in New York City, the company has 9,500 employees in more than 130 cities worldwide.

Justin Yifu Lin, Ph.D., was named World Bank chief economist and senior vice president on June 2, 2008, the first chief economist named from a developing country. A native of China, Lin has served for 15 years as a professor of economics and founding director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University. He has held a variety of public roles in his country, such as deputy of China’s People’s Congress and vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. Twice Lin has been awarded China’s highest honor for economics, the Sun Yefang Prize.

Lin earned his doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1986. He is the author of 16 books, including The China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic Reform (Chinese University Press, 2003), and has published more than 100 articles in international journals and collected volumes.

Frank J. Macchiarola is chancellor and former president of St. Francis College in Brooklyn. Macchiarola’s professional career and public service has touched New York institutions far and wide. He served as New York City Public Schools chancellor from 1978 to 1983 and as president and chief executive officer of the New York City Partnership, Inc., from 1983 to 1988.

He has held dean and/or faculty positions at several major metropolitan area universities, including the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, and the City University of New York campuses at City College, Baruch and the Graduate School. His most recent commitment to public service is as chair of the New York City Charter Revision Commission.

In 2003, Macchiarola was called upon by the city to help negotiate a fair settlement between the Local 802 Musicians Union and the League of American Theaters and Producers, after a strike shut down Broadway and cost the city millions in revenue.

Kathryn Wylde is president and chief executive officer of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization of the city’s business leaders that was established by David Rockefeller in 1979. She also founded the Housing Partnership Development Corporation and served as president from 1982 to 1996.

An internationally known expert in housing, economic development and urban policy, Wylde serves on the Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, the NYC Leadership Academy and two NY-based research alliances, one on Bioethics and one for the public schools. She is a native of Madison, Wis., and a graduate of St. Olaf College.

Joel Klein has been chancellor of the New York City public school system since 2002. A New York City native and graduate of the New York City public school system, Klein initiated a comprehensive education reform program as chancellor that included ending social promotion in third, fifth, seventh, and eighth grades and giving principals greater control over how they run their schools while holding them accountable for results.

Klein is a former chairman and chief executive officer of Bertelsmann, Inc., one of the world’s largest media companies with annual revenues exceeding $20 billion. Prior to that commercial venture Klein served under President Bill Clinton as assistant attorney general in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division. There he led the 700-lawyer division in cases against Microsoft, WorldCom/Sprint, Visa/Mastercard, and General Electric. He has been widely credited with transforming the antitrust division into one of the Clinton administration’s greatest successes.

Klein holds a bachelor of arts degree from Columbia University and a juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

Joseph Moglia (FCRH ’71) is chairman of Ameritrade, which grew from a small “dot com” brokerage house to one of the most widely recognized names in financial services during his seven-year tenure as chief executive officer. During that time, the firm’s market capital grew from $700 million to $10 billion and Ameritrade shareholders enjoyed a triple-digit rate of return.

Prior to his career in finance Moglia had a 16-year career as a high school and university football coach.

Moglia holds a bachelor’s in economics from Fordham, where he made the Dean’s List and was a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the National Economic Honor Society. He is the author of Coach Yourself to Financial Success: Winning the Investment Game (Wiley, 2005) and has also authored a books and articles on football.

In addition to this year’s commencement speaker, Charlie Rose, those receiving honorary degrees from the University include a Wall Street innovator, a Catholic education administrator, the grand dame of pro football, a founder and chairwoman of an investment management firm and a leader in children’s prime-time programming.

Joining the award-winning host when he receives his doctorate of human letters,honoris causa, are: John P. Foley, S.J., chairman of the Cristo Rey Network; Mario J. Gabelli (CBA ’65), chairman and chief executive officer-value investments of GAMCO Investors, Inc.; Ann Mara, wife of the late New York Giants owner Wellington Mara (FCRH ’37); and Christina Seix Dow (TMC ’72), founder and chairwoman of Seix Investment Advisors and founder of the Seix Academy for at-risk youth.

Richard Ross (LAW ’86), president of Disney Channels Worldwide, will receive a doctorate of laws, honoris causa, on May 18 at the Law School’s commencement ceremony.

John P. Foley, S.J., a Chicago native, entered the Society of Jesus in 1954. After earning a B.A. in literature from Xavier University, an M.A. in sociology and a M.Ed. from Loyola University, Father Foley served in Jesuit missions in Peru for 34 years, working in education. He returned to Chicago in 1995 and became the founding president of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, an innovative Catholic school serving the immigrant population. The success of the school led to the creation of the Cristo Rey Network. As the national association’s chairman, Father Foley oversees 19 member high schools providing Roman Catholic university preparatory education in 15 states.

Mario J. Gabelli (CBA ’65), founded Gabelli & Company, Inc., in 1977. He is on the Board of Overseers of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, a trustee of Boston College, Roger Williams University, the Wiegand Foundation and of the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States, which provides student scholarships and fellowships. The son of Italian immigrants, Gabelli sits on the board of directors of the National Italian American Foundation, the American-Italian Cancer Foundation and the Foundation for Italian Art & Culture. Gabelli served as governor of the American Stock Exchange and is a frequent panelist for Barron’s. In 1997, Morningstar named Gabelli the U.S. Equity Manager of the Year for achieving a 31.7 percent return on 10 Gabelli equity funds. Barron’s selected him for its All-Century Team in January 2000.

Ann Mara, the first lady of the New York Giants and the National Football League, has cherished her relationship with the Jesuit family for more than six decades.  As a young woman, she worked for the Jesuit Seminary and Mission Bureau, and was a member of the Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola on Park Avenue. It was there she met her husband, Wellington (FCRH ’37), and began the most enduring and enriching partnership in her life. Their large and loving family includes 11 children, 42 grandchildren and one great-grandchild, all of whom are fervent supporters of the Giants. The franchise has won seven NFL championships including three Super Bowls. The couple’s son, John (LAW ’79), is the president of the Giants, who recently defeated New England in Super Bowl XLII. The Mara family remains a generous supporter of Fordham, and four of Ann Mara’s grandchildren are students at the University.

Christina Seix Dow (TMC ’72), founded Seix Investment Advisors, an institutional fixed-income management firm, in 1992 and merged the firm in 2004 with SunTrust Banks, Inc., the seventh-largest bank in the United States. She continues to serve as the company’s chairwoman. Seix Dow was formerly chairwoman, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of MacKay-Shields Financial Corporation, a multi-billion dollar investment management firm in New York City. Seix Dow recently embarked on the founding of a residential school for at-risk youth, targeting a total school enrollment of 100-110 students, approximately 12 per year in grades K-8. Her goal is to provide students with a nurturing and safe environment, rigorous academics, and core ethical values that will enable them to become leaders in their communities and beyond.

Rich Ross (LAW ’86), has propelled Disney Channel U.S. to the No. 1 spot for prime-time viewing among children and preteens, and managing 67 channels that reach more than 600 million viewers in more than 100 countries. Ross also oversees DisneyChannel.com, which ranks as the No. 1 website for children aged 6-14, and Radio Disney Network. Ross directs the development of the channel’s original programming which includes the hit series Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place and That’s So Raven. Before joining Disney in 1996, Ross was a senior vice president of development and production at FX Networks and a vice president of programming enterprises for Nickelodeon.

Cardinal Kasper is an accomplished theologian and the author of many books and articles about Christian ecumenical relations. Pope John Paul II named Cardinal Kasper president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity in 2001. The council’s primary function is to guide and serve the ecumenical activities of the Catholic Church and to manage Catholic-Jewish relations.
During the degree ceremony, Cardinal Kasper will deliver an address on the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate titled “Ecumenical Situation, Ecumenical Problems, Ecumenical Perspectives.”

DATE:    MARCH 16
TIME:      6:30 P.M.
PLACE:  MCNALLY AMPHITHEATRE
FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL
140 W. 62ND STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y.

These ideals are ever so relevant to the responsibility entrusted to me as president of my country, to improve the lives of my countrymen, to ensure their safety and to realize their collective potential to become a strong nation.” President Macapagal-Arroyo’s award had a special distinction in that it marked the first time that Fordham has conferred an honorary degree upon the daughter of a former honorary degree recipient. Thirty-eight years ago, President Macapagal-Arroyo’s father, the late Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal, received an honorary doctorate of laws. President Macapagal-Arroyo accompanied her father at that ceremony, which took place Oct. 9, 1964 on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus.

“It is a personal pleasure and an institutional pleasure to welcome the president of the Philippines back to Fordham,” said the Rev. Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., University president, during the ceremony held in the McNally Amphitheater at the School of Law. He commended President Macapagal-Arroyo for her commitment to social justice and her fight to eradicate poverty in the Philippines. For Father O’Hare, conferring this degree was especially significant because of his personal experience in the Philippines. The Society of Jesus has a long relationship with the Philippines, the only Catholic country in Asia. As a Jesuit scholastic, Father O’Hare spent six years studying and teaching in the Philippines.

He taught for many years at the Ateneo de Manila University, as did President Macapagal-Arroyo. Today, several of his former students hold influential posts in the Philippines, including three of the five Jesuit presidents of Jesuit universities in the country and several high-ranking government officials. “Father O’Hare is a Filipino at heart,” said Macapagal-Arroyo during her remarks. “�The country has reaped well from the seeds of excellence he sowed.” In addition to expressing her appreciation for Father O’Hare and Jesuit education, Macapagal-Arroyo described her political reasons for her trip to the United States. Her mission, she said, is to end terrorism and poverty in her country. She emphasized the importance of building alliances with other countries through diplomacy and acting as an ambassador for business and investment in the Philippines to meet these goals.

Prior to entering politics, Macapagal-Arroyo was a tenured economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, where Father O’Hare taught just before her arrival. In 1987, Macapagal-Arroyo joined President Corazon Aquino’s administration as an assistant secretary of the undersecretary of social welfare and development. In 1992, she was elected to the Senate, where she authored 55 laws on economic and social reform. In 1998, she was elected vice president with almost 13 million votes, the most cast for this position in Philippine history. President Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as the country’s 14th president in January 2001. The mission of her administration has been to redistribute economic resources and reduce poverty. U.S. President George W. Bush and other world leaders have recognized her as a strong leader against global poverty and terrorism. Macapagal-Arroyo attended Georgetown University for two years before graduating from Assumption College with a bachelor’s degree in commerce. She later graduated with a master�s degree from Ateneo de Manila and earned her doctorate at the University of the Philippines.