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Rocket Boy Homer Hickam to address WVU's Class of 1999 May 16
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Rocket Boy Homer H. "Sonny" Hickam will address nearly 3,000 West Virginia University graduates and their families Sunday, May 16, during 130th commencement exercises at the Coliseum. Doors open at noon; no tickets are necessary.
Hickam, a native of Coalwood, McDowell County (WV), is the author of the best selling autobiography Rocket Boys: A Memoir. The inspirational book about a young man who dreams of building rockets to outer space after witnessing Sputnik streak across the night sky became the subject of the "must see" motion picture October Sky late last year.
His address to graduates, "The Rocket Boys: Passion, Planning and Perseverance," will be based on his West Virginia upbringing in the hardscrabble company town of Coalwood to his status today as a retired NASA engineer and freelance writer.
Following his address, Hickam will receive the President's Distinguished Service Award -- an honor given to individuals who have brought prestige and recognition to West Virginia University and/or the state.
During the ceremony, honorary degrees will be bestowed upon three individuals -- writer/director Lawrence Kasdan, receiving an honorary doctorate of humane letters; retired president of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation Paul R. Jenkins, receiving an honorary doctorate of humane letters; and Charleston attorney John McClaugherty receiving an honorary doctorate of law.
Three individuals will also be honored at the WVU Alumni Association's annual luncheon and Vandalia Awards Ceremony Saturday, May 15, at 11:30 a.m. at Erickson Alumni Center and during Commencement exercises. They are: Logan County educator and coach Willie D. Akers; Wheeling attorney Sue Seibert Farnsworth; and Charleston physician and WVU professor emeritus Dr. Walter Warren Point III.
WVU's various schools and colleges have also set separate convocation and awards ceremonies for Saturday and Sunday.
-WVU-
bl/5-05-99
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