Ceremonies to Mark Middlebury College 1999 Language

Schools Commencement on Aug. 13 — Carillon Concert and

Ceremonies Open to the Public

The Middlebury College Language Schools will conduct

commencement exercises on Friday, Aug. 13 at 8 p.m. The ceremonies

will be preceded by a carillon recital by Middlebury College Carillonneur

George Matthew, Jr. beginning at 7 p.m. The public is invited

to attend the recital and the commencement exercises. Both events

will be held in Middlebury College’s Mead Memorial Chapel on Hepburn

Road off College Street (Route 125).

Degrees will be awarded to 153 master of arts candidates

in French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish, and to seven

candidates for the degree of doctor of modern languages. Four

bachelor’s degrees will also be conferred. The ceremony will

include an awards presentation for outstanding achievement in

the study of Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese languages, and

for French literary studies.

The commencement address will be delivered by Raymond

E. Benson, the director of the Russian program for the Salzburg

Seminar’s Universities Project. The Salzburg Seminar, a center

for intellectual exchange, is an international forum that brings

together rising leaders from around the world. A career diplomat

and public affairs officer, Benson served in the United States

Embassies in Russia, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. He also was an adjunct

professor of Russian studies at Middlebury College from 1987 through

1996.

Benson will receive an honorary doctor of humane

letters from Middlebury College. Honorary degrees also will be

conferred upon Shirley Benson, a Russian translator who served

at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the Library of Congress, and the

State Department; Jean Berger, a music critic and composer of

choral works who taught at Middlebury College from 1948 to 1959;

and Ta Chun Hsu, president of The C.V. Starr Foundation until

earlier this year.

Middlebury College’s first language school, the German

School, was founded in 1915, followed by the French and Spanish

Schools in 1916 and 1921, respectively. Subsequently, programs

were added in Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic.

Middlebury also offers language programs at the C.V.

Starr-Middlebury Schools Abroad located in France (Paris), Germany

(Mainz), Italy (Florence), Russia (Irkutsk, Moscow, Voronezh,

and Yaroslavl), and Spain (Getafe, Logroño, Madrid, and

Segovia). More than 30,000 students have attended the Language

Schools in their 83-year history, of which 11,000 have obtained

advanced degrees in one or more of the eight foreign languages

offered.