August 5, 1999
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.