Contact: Ginny Greenberg (516) 463-6819
HOFSTRA GEARS UP FOR COMMENCEMENT 2000 ...
Thousands of Seniors Prepare To Graduate, May 21 and 22; Speakers Include Cy Coleman, Jeffrey Lyons, H. Carl McCall and John Marburger
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY ... Approximately 2,000 Hofstra students will participate in the University's commencement ceremonies, scheduled to take place May 21 and 22, 2000.
Sunday, May 21 All ceremonies this day will be in the Hofstra Arena.
11:15 a.m.: Commencement for the Frank G. Zarb School of Business. Featuring Maurice R. Greenberg, chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group (AIG) and chairman of The Starr Foundation, who will receive an honorary degree. AIG is a leading global insurance and financial services organization operating in 130 countries and jurisdictions worldwide. The Starr Foundation is one of the 10 largest foundations in the United States, and its largest area of giving is education.
3:30 p.m.: Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences commenecment. Honorary doctorates will be awarded to pianist, composer and lyricist Cy Coleman and New York State Comptroller H. Carl McCall. Coleman is best known for his musical scores for Wildcat (featuring the hit "Hey Look Me Over"), Sweet Charity, City of Angels and The Will Rogers Follies.He has been nominated for a countless number of Tony Awards and Grammy Awards. He also wrote the pop standards "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come."
H. Carl McCall has a distinguished career as a public servant. From 1991 to 1993 he served as president of the New York City Board of Education. He also served three terms as a New York state senator, representing the upper Manhattan district of New York. Mr. McCall was an ambassador to the United Nations, commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights. He has served as the comptroller of New York State since May 1993.
7:30 p.m.: School of Law commencement. The Honorable Richard Conway Casey will receive an honorary degree. He is an outstanding judge and lawyer who is known for prosecuting Soviet spies in 1960 and for defending Merrill Lynch in the infamous "Salad Oil Scandal." He is the first blind person appointed to a Federal District Coutry judgeship in the 208 year history of the judiciary.
Also at this time, the Honorable Maryanne Trump Barry will receive a Hofstra Presidential Medal. Most recently Judge Barry was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for Third Circuit. In 1983 she was appointed a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey by President Ronald Reagan. Prior to that she served as First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and at that time was the highest ranking woman prosecutor in any major United States Attorney's Office in the nation.
Monday, May 22
10 a.m.: School of Communication at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse. Jeffrey Lyons will be the commencement speaker. Lyons is currently theater and film critic for WNBC-TV (channel 4). Before joining WNBC-TV he was the co-host of the PBS series Sneak Previews from 1982 to 1996. He was also a film and theater critic forABC World News Now from 1994 to 1996, entertainment editor for CNBC and a contributing editor for Inside Edition and A&E Review. He has written a number of books on film and appeared in several movies.
2 p.m.: New College Commencement at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, featuring honorary degree recipient John H. Marburger III, director of Brookhaven National Laboratory. Dr. Marburger has led a distinguished career in education and business. Before coming to Brookhaven Lab, he served as president of the State University at Stony Brook from 1980 to 1994. During his presidency University Hospital opened and the biological sciences became one of the major strengths of the university. Federally sponsored scientific research at Stony Brook grew to exceed that of any other public university in the northeastern United States during his term in the 1980s.
7 p.m.: School of Education and Allied Human Services at the Hofstra Arena. An honorary degree will be given to Raymond A. Jansen, publisher, president and chief executive officer of Newsday. Since his appointment, Newsday has received five Pulitzer Prizes. He has oversight responsibilities for all of Newsday's operations, as well as those of Times Mirror newspapers The Baltimore Sun, The Hartford Courant, The Morning Call, the Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time.
Media is welcome to cover the commencement ceremonies.
For more information call the Hofstra University Relations office at (516) 463-6818 or 6819.
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