Syracuse University to confer six honorary degrees May 10April 23, 2009Jaime Winne Alvarez jlwinne@syr.edu
Syracuse University will award honorary degrees to six individuals of exceptional achievement at its 155th Commencement exercises on Sunday, May 10, in the Carrier Dome. The University will bestow honorary doctoral degrees upon Molly Corbett Broad ’62, Charles J. Fahey, Seymour M. Hersh, Irving Powless Jr., Gianfranco Zaccai ’70 and U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. L’68, who will deliver the Commencement address to the Class of 2009.
Molly Corbett Broad ’62Doctor of Laws
Molly Corbett Broad, former University of North Carolina (UNC) president for nine years, is a leading spokesperson for American higher education. In May 2008, she became the 12th president of the American Council on Education (ACE) and the first woman to lead the organization since its founding in 1918.
Broad served as president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system from 1997-2006. As UNC’s chief executive officer, she was responsible for managing the affairs and executing the policies of the university and representing it to the North Carolina General Assembly, state officials, the federal government and other key constituencies.
Broad led UNC through a period of unprecedented enrollment growth. Due in large part to the success of the university’s Focused Growth Initiative, minority enrollment grew at more than double the rate of the overall student body during her tenure, and special state funding allowed for significant academic and operating improvements at the system’s historically minority campuses. She also championed the creation of a need-based financial aid program for in-state undergraduates and the creation of the College Foundation of North Carolina.
An economist, Broad held a number of administrative and executive positions at several universities prior to her tenure at UNC, building an impressive reputation and developing expertise in finance, information technology, government relations, capital planning, leadership development and strategy. She also served as a professor in the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Earlier in her career, she held a succession of administrative posts at SU from 1971-85, including manager in the Office of Budget and Planning, director of institutional research, and vice president for government and corporate relations. In 1976, she took a one-year leave of absence to serve as deputy director of the New York State Commission on the Future of Postsecondary Education.
Broad has written and spoken widely on strategic planning for higher education, K-16 partnerships, information technology, globalization and biotechnology. She currently holds seats on the boards of PBS and the Parsons Corp. She is past chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), past chair of the Internet 2 board of trustees and past president of the International Council for Distance Education.
Broad graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in economics from SU. She holds a master’s degree in economics from The Ohio State University.
Charles J. FaheyDoctor of Humane Letters
Monsignor Charles J. Fahey, a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, and Marie Ward Doty Professor of Aging Studies Emeritus at Fordham University, currently serves as a program officer of the Milbank Memorial Fund.
From 1961 until 1979, when he joined the Fordham faculty, he was assistant director and then director of Catholic Charities in the Syracuse Diocese.
He has served as board member and president of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and the American Society on Aging and Catholic Charities USA. He served as a board member of the Daughters of Charity National Health System, the Sisters of Mercy Health System, the Catholic Health Association and the Volunteers of America. Currently, he is a member of the board and chair of the National Council on Aging. He was a member of the National Commission on Quality in Long Term Care.
Fahey has been a consultant on ethics to the American Health Care Association and the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. He was a spokesperson for the Holy See in the 1982 World Assembly on Aging (Vienna); served in leadership roles for the 1971, 1981 and 1995 White House Conferences on Aging; and was a delegate to the 2005 conference. He was a member of the U.S. delegation to the 2002 United Nations Second World Assembly on Aging (Madrid 2002).
He is a fellow of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science, the Gerontological Society of America, the National Academy for Social Insurance and the New York Academy of Medicine. He is recipient of five honorary degrees.
Seymour M. HershDoctor of Letters
Seymour M. Hersh first wrote for The New Yorker in 1971 and has been a regular contributor to the magazine since 1993. His journalism and publishing awards include the Pulitzer Prize, five George W. Polk Awards, two National Magazine Awards and more than a dozen prizes for investigative reporting.
In 2004, Hersh exposed the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in a series of pieces in The New Yorker. For that work, in 2005 he received the National Magazine Award for Public Interest, an Overseas Press Club Award, the National Press Foundation’s W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award and his fifth Polk Award, making him the award’s most honored laureate.
Hersh was born in Chicago in 1937 and graduated in 1958 from the University of Chicago. He began his newspaper career as a police reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago. After serving in the U.S. Army, he worked for a suburban newspaper and then for United Press International and The Associated Press until 1967, when he joined the presidential campaign of Eugene J. McCarthy as speechwriter and press secretary.
In 1969, Hersh exposed the My Lai massacre and cover-up during the Vietnam War. His work earned him the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. He joined The New York Times in 1972, working in Washington and New York. He left the paper in 1979 and has been a freelance writer since, with two six-month stints on special assignment to the Times’ Washington bureau.
Hersh has published eight books, the most recent being “Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib” (HarperCollins, 2004), based on his reporting for The New Yorker. His book prizes include the 1983 National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Award for biography, and a second Sidney Hillman Award, for “The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House” (Summit Books, 1983).
Hersh also won two Investigative Reporters & Editors prizes-one for “The Price of Power” in 1983, and the other for “The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy (The Political, Diplomatic and Military Repercussions of Israel’s Atomic Arsenal)” (Random House, 1991), a study of American foreign policy and the Israeli nuclear bomb program in 1992. In 2004, Hersh won a National Magazine Award for Public Interest for his pieces “Lunch with the Chairman,” “Selective Intelligence” and “The Stovepipe.”
Irving Powless Jr.Doctor of Laws
Irving Powless Jr., a chief of the Beaver Clan of the Onondaga Nation and secretary to the nation for more than 30 years, is a public servant to his people. Proficient in Iroquois treaties and laws, he champions the rights of the Onondaga and all Haudenosaunee. (Photo by John Berry, The Post-Standard)
Over the years, Powless has met with state and federal officials, educating them and raising issues on treaty obligations for the Haudenosaunee. In 1964, he was asked by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to submit a test case at the Rochester Appellate Court in which he cited the Canandaigua Treaty and federal court cases. As a result of his efforts, New York State Tax Laws now recognize that Haudenosaunee territories are not part of the state and cannot be taxed. He later worked on the case pertaining to Route 81 running through Indian land, which ruled that the state does not have eminent domain over tribal lands. He also worked on a case confirming that Indians are sovereign and have jurisdiction over their health.
Powless’ legal writings include an article on treaty making in the book “Treaty of Canandaigua 1794: 200 Years of Treaty Relations Between the Iroquois Confederacy and the United States” (Clear Light Publishing, 2000); an article in the University of Buffalo Law Review on the Iroquois Confederacy as it relates to law, sovereignty and tribal governance; and a chapter in the book “Iroquois Land Claims” (Syracuse University Press, 1988) on the sovereignty and land rights of the Haudenosaunee. He has also contributed to newspaper articles as both author and interviewee, in addition to writing for the Onondaga Nation Community Office Newsletter and Powless’ Pondering Post, which he founded.
Powless advocates for his community by educating his own people and the general public and on the rights, culture and history of the Onondaga and Haudenosaunee. He has lectured at numerous institutions, including SU, Colgate University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Stanford University and Onondaga Community College so that communities throughout the region and nation have a better understanding of his people and to help make the U.S. and Turtle Island better environments for their inhabitants.
Powless raises public consciousness about the Haudenosaunee through radio, television and film. He has appeared on radio programs throughout the United States, in addition to Italy and Germany, and has served as both consultant and interviewee on news broadcasts, talk shows and documentaries. A talented singer, Powless recorded traditional Haudenosaunee songs for educational productions and appeared as an actor in several films, including a role as a Cherokee husband and father in “Trail of Tears” with Jack Palance and Johnny Cash, a Haudenosaunee chief in “Hidden Medicine” and an Onondaga chief in “The Reawakening.” His documentaries include Kevin Costner’s “500 Nations” and the award-winning educational videos “To Be like an Eagle” with Nancy Duffy and “Tradition’s Children” with Abby Lazar.
Powless was honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1999 with an Environmental Quality Award for protecting and enhancing the environment. In 2000, he and Oren Lyons ’58 were inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Onondaga County’s Wall of Honor for minority veterans of World War II.
Gianfranco Zaccai ’70Doctor of Fine Arts
Gianfranco Zaccai is co-founder, president and CEO of Continuum Boston, Milan, & Seoul, a pioneer in the interdisciplinary field of using design research to identify compelling opportunities for innovation, accelerating product time to market, and ultimately creating consumer-delighting experiences.
Continuum has played a key role in the development of breakthrough products in such wide-ranging industries as high-volume consumer goods and bio-medical devices-exemplified by work on the Swiffer and Thermacare product lines for Procter & Gamble, to the U.S. Genomics Trilogy Analyzer. Zaccai and Continuum are dedicated to exploring the power of design in relation to developing nations. A recent project in this field was the $100 laptop for the Media Lab at MIT. Zaccai has engaged in development projects in Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, India and Chile. Continuum’s work has received global recognition, including a Presidential Design Award from U.S. President William Clinton; the Compasso D’Oro, Italy; the Red Dot and IF Awards, Germany; and numerous awards from the Industrial Designers Society of America and BusinessWeek.
Zaccai serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Design Management Institute (DMI) in Boston and sits on the board of advisors to SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. He is also a visiting lecturer at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy.
Zaccai holds degrees in industrial design from SU and in architecture from the Boston Architectural Center, where he now serves as an overseer to the college. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of fine arts degree from North Carolina State University in December 2007.
Joseph R. Biden Jr. L’68 Doctor of Laws
Joseph R. Biden Jr. became the 47th vice president of the United States in January 2009. Prior to the vice presidency, Biden was one of the most respected U.S. Senate voices on foreign policy, civil liberties and crime prevention.
First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, at the age of 29, he went on to become a seven-term U.S. senator (D-Del.) and a leader on some of the nation’s most important domestic and international challenges. Chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for 17 years, Biden was widely recognized for his work on criminal justice issues, including the landmark 1994 Crime Bill and the Violence Against Women Act, which contains a broad array of measures to combat domestic violence and provides federal funds to address gender-based crimes. As chairman or ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 1997, Biden played a pivotal role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. He has been at the forefront of issues and legislation related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, post-Cold War Europe, the Middle East and Southwest Asia.
Additionally, Biden is widely recognized for his work in environmental protection. In 2000, Biden’s decades-long efforts culminated in establishment of Delaware’s first and only National Wild and Scenic River-the White Clay Creek Watershed-which is preserved and saved from development for future generations.
Biden grew up in New Castle County, Del., and graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965. Prior to his election to the Senate, he practiced law in Wilmington and served on the New Castle County Council from 1970-72.
An active SU alumnus, Biden has given the keynote address for the SU Law Commencement-in 1994, 2002 and 2006-and was keynote speaker at the MacNaughton Hall dedication dinner in 1998. He received the SU Chancellor’s Medal in 1980; the SU Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2003; and the George Arents Pioneer Medal, SU’s highest alumni award, in 2005.
