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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