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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 1995

CONTACT:

Mary Ann Hill
(781) 283-2373
mhill@wellesley.edu

U.N. AMBASSADOR MADELEINE KORBEL ALBRIGHT DELIVERS KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT WELLESLEY COLLEGE 1995 COMMENCEMENT

Wellesley, MA -- Presiding over Wellesley College's 117th Commencement exercises, President Diana Chapman Walsh today presented Bachelor of Arts degrees to 537 women, including 36 Davis Scholars.

United Nations Ambassador Madeleine Korbel Albright, a member of the Class of 1959, returned to her alma mater to address the Class of 1995. Surrounded by a display of international flags signifying the countries represented by the graduates, Ambassador Albright addressed a crowd of close to 3,000 people, including seniors, their guests, faculty and staff in the College's Academic Quadrangle.

Ambassador Albright was appointed United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations by President Clinton in January 1993. She is also a member of the President's Cabinet and the National Security Council. From 1989 to 1992, she served as President of the Center for National Policy, a non-profit research organization that promotes study and discussion of domestic and international issues. She was a research professor of International Affairs and directed the Women in Foreign Service Program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service from 1982 until her U.N. appointment.

As a Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Albright wrote about the role of the press in political changes in Poland. She was a Senior Fellow in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in 1981, and was an Adjunct Fellow at the institution from 1981-90.

During the Carter administration, from 1978-81, Madeleine Korbel Albright served as a staff member of the National Security Council and White House responsible for foreign policy legislation. From 1976-78, she was Chief Legislative Assistant for Senator Edward Muskie (D-Maine).

Ambassador Albright graduated with honors from Wellesley College in 1959 with a B.A. in Political Science and received both an M.A. (1968) and a Ph.D. (1976) from Columbia University's Department of Public Law and Government. Fluent in Czech, French, Russian, and Polish, her writings include Poland, the Role of the Press in Political Change; The Soviet Diplomatic Service. Profile of an Elite and The Role of the Press in Political Change: Czechoslovakia 1968.

Jennifer Harmon, a Studio Art major from Madison, Connecticut, delivered the student Commencement speech on behalf of the graduating class, a tradition begun at Wellesley in 1969 by another graduating senior, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

President Walsh announced the three winners of the Pinanski Prize for Excellence in Teaching: Thomas P. Hodge, Assistant Professor of Russian; Susan Silbey, Professor of Sociology and Ann Trenk, Assistant Professor of Mathematics.

She also announced the retirements of four distinguished faculty members: Ella P. Bones, Professor of Russian; Barbara J. Cochran, Associate Professor of Physical Education and Athletics; and Margaret A. Dermody and Barbara F. Muise, Laboratory Instructors in Biological Sciences.

President Walsh saluted three Wellesley College Trustees who are completing their tenure this year: Jill Harrison Vassar '92 of San Antonio, Texas; Virginia Guild Watkin '46 of Washington, D.C.; and Vice Chair David B. Stone of Marion, Massachusetts.

The Teasdale Prize for notable poetic achievement by an American poet was presented by President Walsh to David Ferry, the Sophie Chantal Hart Professor of English Emeritus.

A new Chair, a newly combined Chair, and the new holders of three of Wellesley's existing Professorships were announced:

The Margaret Hamm Kelly Professorship has been established as a permanent memorial to Mrs. Kelly, a devoted Wellesley alumna in the Class of 1920. The first holder of the Chair will be Elissa Koff, Professor of Psychology.

The Ralph Emerson and Alice Freeman Palmer Chair in Political Science will be held by Edward A. Stettner, Professor of Political Science. This newly merged professorship is the result of joining two formerly distinct chairs because of their great historic significance to the College.

The Whitehead Associate Professorship in Critical Thought for 1995 to 1997 will be held by Marcellus Andrews, Associate Professor of Economics. A three-year rotating chair established in 1982 by Jaan Whitehead '64 and her husband, John, the professorship supports research and teaching in the general area of critical inquiry.

The Marion Butler McLean Chair in the History of Ideas for the next four years will be held by Selwyn R. Cudjoe, Professor of Africana Studies. This rotating professorship was established in 1982 to honor Marion Butler McLean '12.

The William R. Kenan, Jr. Professorship for the next two years will be held by Margaret Ward, Professor of German. This professorship was established 20 years ago to support and encourage a scholar-teacher whose enthusiasm for learning, commitment to teaching and personal interest in students broadens the learning process and makes an effective contribution to the undergraduate community.

On Thursday, June 1, at the Baccalaureate Service, a multi-faith celebration, Stephen A. Marini, Professor of Religion, and Michele Respaut, Professor and Chair of the Department of French, delivered the Baccalaureate addresses.

 

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