Commencement '19: a customary celebration

Recipients of teaching prizes

Jill Campbell ’88PhD, Professor of English: the Sidonie Miskimin Clauss ’75 Prize for teaching excellence in the humanities.

Wei Su, Senior Lector, East Asian Languages and Literature: the Richard H. Brodhead ’68 Prize for teaching excellence by non-ladder faculty.

Debra Fischer, Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy: the Dylan Hixon ’88 Prize for teaching excellence in the natural sciences.

John Geanakoplos ’75, James Tobin Professor of Economics: the Lex Hixon ’63 Prize for teaching excellence in the social sciences.

Mary Miller ’81PhD, Sterling Professor in the History of Art: the Harwood F. Byrnes/Richard B. Sewall Teaching Prize for a faculty member who over a long period of service has inspired a great number of students and consistently fostered the learning process both inside and outside the classroom.

Recipients of honorary degrees

Chimamanda Adichie ’08MA, author, whose “stories of war, migration, home, and heartbreak bring the great richness and multiplicity of human experience to life”; who calls us “to ‘do better’ for women and girls, for ourselves and future generations”: Doctor of Letters.

Lawrence S. Bacow, President of Harvard, who champions “the promise and responsibility of higher education: to seek truth, expand opportunity, and contribute to the greater good”: Doctor of Social Science.

James A. Baker III, who as “cabinet secretary, foreign envoy, and trusted adviser” brought a “laser-sharp understanding of people, power, and policy” that “helped guide a generation of US presidents”: Doctor of Humane Letters.

Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, a “scholar of the people” who “excavates the past and challenges our view of the present”: Doctor of Humanities.

Carmen de Lavallade, performing artist, a "grand dame of dance” and “regal storyteller working in the medium of movement” as “choreographer and teacher, actress and artist”: Doctor of Fine Arts.

Sheila Hicks ’57BFA, ’59MFA, artist, who fashions “masterpieces of texture, color, structure, and scale” and in whose hands “fiber and found objects are transformed, confounding categories and elevating our public spaces”: Doctor of Fine Arts.

Strive Masiyiwa, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and “bold business leader and devoted humanitarian” whose “innovation and generosity have transformed a continent and improved countless lives”: Doctor of Humane Letters.

Cynthia Moss, a groundbreaking conservationist who has “brought international attention to the elephants of Amboseli” and has helped humans to “find beauty, dignity, and joy beyond our species”: Doctor of Social Science.

Indra K. Nooyi ’80MPPM, a businesswoman celebrated for her leadership and her commitment to helping women achieve success, who has been an “intrepid trailblazer” and “set an enduring example of success”: Doctor of Humane Letters.

Sister Helen Prejean, a death-penalty abolitionist and “emissary of hope” who goes “to the margins of society—to the poor, forgotten, and alone—to share God’s love” and has “opened our eyes to the value of all human beings”: Doctor of Divinity.

Gloria Steinem, a leader of a women’s rights movement that “changed our world, giving women greater freedom to chart their own courses”; a “feminist and firebrand” fighting to “advance liberty, equality, and humanity”: Doctor of Humane Letters.