Contact: JANE FINALBORGO, [email protected]
JOE DIONISIO, [email protected]
516-287-8313
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 26, 1999
Cartoonist Jules Feiffer Addresses the Class of 1999 at Southampton College Congressman Michael Forbes, Marine Scientists Jane Lubchenco & Bruce Menge, Educator Richard Wingfield Also Receive Honorary Degrees at May 23 Commencement
Southampton, NY -- Jules Feiffer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and writer for New Yorker magazine, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Southampton College of Long Island University on Sunday, May 23 at 2 p.m.
The 36th annual commencement takes place in an outdoor ceremony in front of Southampton Hall, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and Shinnecock Bay. University President Dr. David Steinberg will confer degrees upon 290 undergraduates and 42 graduate students. Valedictorian honors will go to Sarah Sedoruk, a Psychology/Biology major from Crystal, Minnesota.
Also receiving honorary degrees will be Congressman Michael Forbes, marine scientists Jane Lubchenco and Bruce Menge, and Richard Wingfield of the Southampton School District.
Honorary Doctorate Recipients: Jules Feiffer, whose political and social satire has earned him an Academy Award, Long Island University's coveted Polk Award for journalism, a Pulitzer Prize and an Obie, has engaged his readers with what he calls "comic conversations" for 45 years. His syndicated work and monthly cartoon on The New York Times Op-Ed page exhibits his commitment to social justice and abhorrence of wrong-headed authority. In addition to 17 collections of cartoons, he has written three novels, 12 plays, four screenplays and five children's books. His work has also enhanced Newsweek, Playboy, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Sports Illustrated and The Nation. He currently is a Distinguished Author, professor and lecturer in Southampton College's M.F.A. program in English and Writing.
Michael Forbes , Congressman (R) from New York's 1st District, was elected to a third term with the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998. A member of the influential House Committee on Appropriations, in 1997 he helped forge the first balanced federal budget since 1969, while providing the first federal tax cut in 16 years. He has secured $30 million for the Defense Loan and Technical Assistance Program to help Long Island businesses make the transition from defense work, and $3 million in research funds to combat Brown Tide algae. He has been instrumental in preserving over 3,500 acres of open space in Suffolk County, and has collaborated with Southampton College's Center for Excellence in Marine Science Education and other projects.
Jane Lubchenco and Bruce Menge are renowned marine scientists, and Wayne and Gladys Valley Professors of Marine Biology at Oregon State University. As husband-and-wife faculty members, they pioneered the practice of balancing work and family by splitting a single, tenure-track professorship into two half-time positions. For the next five years, they will focus their expertise on a $17.7 million research project to study the ecology and conservation of coastal Pacific Ocean marine life.
Dr. Lubchenco is a national spokesperson for marine conservation who regularly accepts invitations to discuss ecological issues with the President and Vice President of the United States, Congressional committees, heads of industry, and the world's religious leaders. Dr. Menge is known worldwide for his research on the dynamics of ecological communities in biologically diverse marine environments.
Richard "Junie" Wingfield serves the Southampton School District as Community Liaison, building links among students, parents, faculty members and the community at large. From his days as a Southampton College student, he has embraced the values of honesty, tolerance, kindness and respect, and has been an advocate for teaching children the critical skills of social literacy. He founded the South Fork Council for Children and Youth, which from 1977-85 identified and supported the socially disadvantaged. He also is founder of STAR (Social Thinking and Reasoning), a program that reinforces academics and provides recreation. He has won three county championships as coach of the girl's varsity basketball team, and this year won Coach of the Year honors.
Distinguished Alumnus Award: Peter Willner, the Associate National Director and Chief Operating Officer for the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, one of the nation's oldest civil rights groups, is the 1999 Distinguished Alumnus. In 1967 he earned a B.A. in Sociology and became a member of Southampton College's inaugural graduating class. Since joining the ADL in 1991, he has combated anti-Semitism, racism and bias in all forms. Under his guidance, a restructured ADL increased its budget from $24 million to $48 million, and grew by decentralizing its operation to regional offices. Previously, he was Executive Director for Cooperative Educational Services, one of Connecticut's Public School Regional Education Service Centers. There, he created the Educational Center for Autistic Children, which today is one of the finest centers of its kind in the northeast. Willner, who lives in Fairfield, Ct., currently is an Overseer of Southampton College.
Suffolk County Secondary Teacher of the Year: John Turnbull of Sag Harbor has for the past 19 years been Coordinator of the Academic Enrichment Program, teacher of advanced placement English and social studies, and varsity track coach at Southampton High School. Turnbull, who is trained in conflict mediation, has worked with Mother Theresa in India, completed a sabbatical at Harvard Divinity School, and is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships and two Fulbright Hays Fellowships.
Established by Long Island University in 1963, Southampton College has produced 33 Fulbright Scholars in the last 24 years, many from its nationally-recognized marine and environmental science programs. This small campus in the heart of the world-famous Hamptons is known for its writing and arts programs taught by many of the area's distinguished authors and artists, its programs in gerontology, its SEAmester aboard a traditional sailing ship, and its Friend World Program of global education for social change. Southampton is the location of WPBX 88.3 FM, flagship of the Long Island Public Radio Network.
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