Media Contact: Tim Lucas, News Services, 919/515-3470 or [email protected]
TV News Analyst Harm de Blij to Speak at NC State Commencement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A pioneering evolutionary biologist, one of the nation's top cancer researchers, and the former heads of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Science Foundation are among the six individuals who will receive honorary degrees at North Carolina State University's Commencement at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 19, at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh.
In addition to conferring the honorary degrees, NC State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox is expected to confer about 3,140 academic degrees to approximately 2,970 graduates, some of whom are receiving dual degrees reflecting double majors.
Dr. Harm J. de Blij, a noted geographer, author and Emmy Award-winning television news analyst, will deliver the Commencement address.
The six honorary degree recipients this spring are:
* Dr. T. Ming Chu -- One of the world's foremost cancer researchers, Chu discovered prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and developed a prostate cancer detection test based on PSA that now saves thousands of lives worldwide each year. A leading authority in cancer immunodiagnosis and tumor immunology, he is director of cancer research and chairman of the Diagnostic Immunology Research and Biochemistry Department at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., and professor of experimental pathology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Chu received his master's degree from NC State in 1965. He will be awarded an honorary doctorate of sciences degree.
* Dr. Harm J. de Blij -- A noted geographer, author and Emmy Award-winning television analyst, de Blij is one of America's leading advocates of geography in the mass media. Over the past decade, he has served as geography editor on ABC's "Good Morning America," geography analyst for NBC News, and senior editor for the PBS series "The Power of Place." He is the author of more than 30 books, and was the founding editor of the National Geograhpic Society's scholarly journal, National Geographic Review, and the Journal of Geography. A popular speaker on the public lecture circuit, de Blij will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree.
* Dr. Walter Fitch -- A member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, Fitch is one of the world's foremost evolutionary biologists and is a significant contributor to the development of the field of bioinformatics. He studies the evolution of organisms, in particular the mutation of flu viruses. In the 1960s, he became one of the first scientists to verify evolution at the molecular level. His work on the evolution of flu viruses is providing information that may help scientists devise more effective flu vaccines. Fitch is professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California at Irvine. He will be awarded an honorary doctorate of sciences degree.
* Dr. Jane Henney, M.D. Henney served as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during the Clinton administration. The first woman to head the FDA, she has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to protecting and promoting the health of the American people, and she is credited with reforming the FDA to improve its responsiveness. A cancer specialist and nationally recognized public health administrator, Henney has held key posts at the FDA and the National Cancer Institute under four presidents: Jimmy Carter, George H. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. In addition to her years of federal service, Henney has held top administrative and research posts at the University of New Mexico and the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree.
* Dr. Neal Lane -- During the past decade, Lane was one of America's most influential and respected science policy-makers, having served five years as director of the National Science Foundation and two-and-half-years as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, a post he left this January. Since then, Lane has served as University Professor and Senior Fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. A noted researcher, he is widely cited for his studies on theoretical atomic and molecular physics. He will be awarded an honorary doctorate of sciences degree.
* Ruby Vann Crumpler McSwain -- McSwain, a Sanford resident, is one of North Carolina's leading business owners and philanthropists. A longtime friend of NC State, she has been instrumental to the growth of many programs at NC State's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, including the a public education building at the JC Raulston Arboretum, which will be named in her honor. In 1997, she donated 300 acres and a historic house in Sanford to establish the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service's Lee County Center. McSwain was named Citizen of the Year in 1997 by the Sanford Herald, and Philanthropist of the Year in 1998 by the National Society of Fund Raising Executives' Triangle Chapter. She is also a major benefactor of the North Carolina Museum of Art. She will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree.
-- lucas --
Note to editors: Digital images of the six honorary degree recipients are available by contacting NC State University News Services at (919) 515-3470 or [email protected].
Harm de Blij's last name is pronounced "duh Blay." Jane Henney's last name is pronounced "HAYney."
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