Harold Prince, famed Broadway director and producer, will deliver the commencement address at the University of Rochester's 147th commencement. Prince will receive an honorary doctor of fine arts degree at the 9 a.m. ceremony on Sunday, May 25.
Commencement ceremonies for bachelor's and master's degree candidates will be staged outdoors on the Eastman Quadrangle and will proceed even in the event of showers. Contingency plans, in case of a truly dangerous storm, will be announced later.
The commencement ceremony for M.D. graduates of the School of Medicine and Dentistry will be held Sunday, May 25, at 2:30 p.m. in Eastman Theatre. Receiving degrees at the doctoral degree commencement, to be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 24, in Eastman Theatre, will be Ph.D., D.M.A., and Ed.D. candidates from the College, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Eastman School of Music, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, and the School of Nursing.
The William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration commencement will take place Sunday, June 15 in Eastman Theatre. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the first woman to serve as United States permanent representative to the United Nations, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree.
Degrees to be awarded in all schools: 2,622 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees:
Bachelor's and Master's Degrees Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 25, 9 a.m. on Eastman Quadrangle:
Harold Prince, Doctor of Fine Arts
Harold Prince, this year's commencement speaker, has won 20 Tony Awards, more than any other person in the history of American theater. Hailed internationally as one of the foremost directors of our time, Prince has directed and/or produced more than 50 musicals, plays and operas around the world. During the early 1950s, he apprenticed to the late legendary director George Abbott (a 1911 University graduate whose name remains on Prince's office door) and has collaborated for years with composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
Among the shows Prince has directed are some of the best-loved productions in the history of American theater: Show Boat, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Sweeney Todd, Candide, A Little Night Music, Follies, and Cabaret. His productions include West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Fiorello!, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Born in New York City in 1928, Prince graduated with an A.B. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1948. In addition to the Tony Awards, he has won a Pulitzer Prize and several Critics Circle awards, and he is a 1994 Kennedy Center honoree.
John Mueller, Edward Peck Curtis Award for Undergraduate Teaching
Mueller is a resident of Rochester.
His students don't spare the superlatives. He's been called "the best professor this University has" and "the most influential teacher I ever had." One former student loved his classes so much she dragged herself there when she was sick. John Mueller, professor of political science and of film studies, takes his students seriously, and they know it.
With contagious enthusiasm and witty humor, Mueller introduces undergraduates to the endlessly changing world of war and peace, international politics, and national security policy. He also directs the Watson Center for the Study of International Peace and Cooperation. He dazzles students, colleagues and campus technology gurus alike with multimedia presentations using text, video, maps, sound clips, and photographs. His enthusiasm and expertise extend beyond classroom walls, where he is hotly pursued worldwide as a lecturer and a media interview. A dedicated student in his own right, Mueller reveals an intellectual curiosity that "percolates through his lectures," a colleague notes. He is, a former student attests, "a perfect example of the unending quest for knowledge."
A faculty member since 1965, Mueller carries his zest for learning into non-political realms as well. He has successfully crafted an unlikely second career out of a passion for dance and film. An expert on the influence of Fred Astaire, he is the author of the prize-winning Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films and the creator of the University's Dance Film Archive. He has written scores of other articles, book reviews, musical scripts, and columns on dance and film, and has produced and directed a dozen short films. Students in his undergraduate dance and art history courses rave over his teaching talents, and U.S. News & World Report praises "the divergent forks of his highly unusual career."
The Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching was established by Edward Peck Curtis, Sr. a life trustee who died in 1987. It has been awarded annually since 1962.
Herbert F. York, Hutchison Medal
Herbert F. York, this year's Hutchison medalist, is a noted physicist, weapons scientist and adviser to U.S. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1949, he joined the Lawrence Livermore Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley, where he was a professor of physics and director for a number of years. He joined the U.S. Department of Defense as chief scientist in 1958, working as the department's director of defense research and engineering for three years and serving as interim Secretary of Defense for the Pentagon in 1961.
York's brilliant career continued as he was appointed chancellor of the University of California at San Diego from 1961 to 1964 and from 1970 to 1972. Between terms, he was a professor of physics at San Diego, chair of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and dean of graduate studies at San Diego. Following his chancellorship, York was director of the Program on Science, Technology, and Public Affairs at San Diego from 1972 to 1988. During that time he also was director of the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at San Diego, from 1983 to 1988. York, who holds honorary degrees from three institutions, has published four books and numerous articles on arms and disarmament.
The Hutchison Medal, first awarded in 1977, is the highest honor the University gives its alumni; it recognizes outstanding achievements and notable service to community, state, or nation.
School of Medicine and Dentistry M.D. Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 25, 2:30 p.m. in Eastman Theatre:
J. Michael Bishop, Doctor of Medicine
One of the world's leading scientists in cancer research, J. Michael Bishop discovered 22 years ago with partner Harold Varmus that normal cells contain genes, called oncogenes, that can mutate into cancer genes. This discovery of the origins of cancer proved a watershed moment in the history of research into the disease. For their work, the two earned the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1982 and the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1989, as well as numerous other awards.
Bishop has been director of the G. W. Hooper Research Foundation at the University of California at San Francisco since 1981. As a professor at UC San Francisco's Medical Center, he teaches microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, and biophysics. Bishop also is in demand to edit scientific journals, advise foundations and the federal government, and serve as a mentor for students. He is a trustee and fellow of the Salk Institute.
Doctoral Degree Commencement ceremony, Saturday, May 24, 1 p.m. in Eastman Theatre:
James Allen, University Graduate Teaching Award
Allen is a resident of Pittsford.
With scientific genius and people savvy, James Allen, the John H. Dessauer Professor of Computer Science, is a draw for graduate tudents considering Rochester. He has shepherded more Ph.D. students than any other professor through the Department of Computer Science. Many of these students have since become internationally recognized leaders in their fields at places such as Bell Labs, the University of Geneva, the University of alifornia at San Diego, and the University of York, England.
Allen's students applaud his rare combination of brilliant research and personableness. "He lavishes attention on his advisees," a colleague notes. "He is the sort of advisor that every student longs for, and whom every academic longs to emulate."
Allen is the foremost scientist in computational linguistics, computer systems that can communicate with humans. Among his books is Natural Language Understanding, the world's standard textbook for graduate students in the field. He has written numerous cutting-edge papers, is a fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, and was a Presidential Young Investigator. He served as editor-in-chief of Computational Linguistics for 10 years and has chaired or directed, at various times, the Universityþs Cognitive Science program, Computer Science department, and Center for Sciences of Language.
Since joining the Rochester faculty in 1978, Allen has been widely sought as a speaker, editor, external reviewer, and program committee member. Despite the heavy commitments demanded by a leader in his field, Allen still is able to inspire, prod, and learn alongside his students.
The University Award for Graduate Teaching was established in 1987 to recognize faculty members who have excelled in graduate instruction, especially in doctoral programs. The award complements the long-standing Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
Jacquelyn Campbell, Distinguished Rochester Scholar
From her start working in inner-city community health clinics to her current faculty position at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Jacquelyn Campbell has always rallied for the rights of abused women. One of the world's most powerful advocates for change in how we deal with domestic violence, Campbell has worked with organizations such as UNESCO, the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Organization for Women.
A 1986 Ph.D. graduate of the University's School of Nursing, Campbell is the Anna D. Wolf Endowed Professor and director of the doctoral program at Johns Hopkins' School of Nursing. Now the chair of the American Academy of Nursing's Expert Panel on Violence, she has written numerous books and papers and made many public appearances. To give voice to the silent victims of domestic violence, she is a researcher, teacher, mentor, government consultant, expert witness, and friend.
Charles Swenberg, Distinguished Rochester Scholar
A voracious thirst for knowledge, coupled with great focus and determination, have driven Charles Swenberg to become the innovative scholar he is.
Swenberg, who earned a Ph.D. in physics from the University in 1967, is a scientist at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute. Over the years, he has focused a trademark sense of wonder on producing lasting discoveries in the physics of photosynthesis and the electronic processes at work in organic compounds. His research, such as the way in which ionizing radiation damages DNA and the function of compounds that protect DNA from the effects of radiation, has far-reaching importance.
Swenberg's expertise reaches beyond physics. In the 30 years since his graduation, Swenberg has written dozens of research papers, books, and book chapters in a wide range of fields. He is a member of professional societies in mathematics, biophysics, radiation research, and electrical engineering, and is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Indeed, always a devoted student, Swenberg is finishing a Ph.D. in mathematics, a lifelong ambition -- indicative of Swenberg's facility for taking on fresh, complex areas of research, colleagues note. "One cannot have a conversation with Charles," says one, "without coming away with new ideas and insights."