Former Morehouse College President Walter E. Massey to deliver Middlebury College commencement address May 25

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  Commencement weekend schedule
  
   

Massey was president of Morehouse College, his alma mater, from 1995 until June 2007.  While there, he sought to make the Atlanta institution ? the nation’s largest, private liberal arts college for African-American men ? academically competitive with the finest liberal arts colleges in the country. Prior to his presidency of Morehouse, he was the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs of the University of California system from 1993 to 1995, and the director of the National Science Foundation from 1991 to 1993.

Massey also served as director of Argonne National Laboratory from 1979 to 1984, as the University of Chicago’s vice president for research, including that at Argonne, from 1984 to 1991, and as founding chair of the University of Chicago Development Corporation from 1986 to 1991. He was named to his current membership on Argonne’s board of governors in 2004.

Earlier in his career he held research and teaching positions at the University of Illinois, Brown University and the University of Chicago. As a researcher, he studied quantum liquids and solids, but his interests included the teaching of science and math education, the education of minorities, and the role of science in a democratic society.

Massey serves or has served as a member of the board of numerous science, nonprofit  and educational organizations, including as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a trustee of Brown University, and a member of the National Science Board. He is the current chair of the board of the Salzburg Global Seminar, which has offices in Middlebury; Salzburg, Austria; and Washington, D.C. He also serves or has served as a board member to a number of America’s leading companies, including Bank of America, Motorola and McDonalds.

Born and raised in Hattiesburg, Miss., Massey graduated from high school at age 16. He earned his bachelor of science degree in physics and math from Morehouse in 1958, and his master of science and doctorate in physics from Washington University in St. Louis in 1966.

The college will award nine other individuals with honorary degrees as well.

Sisters Katharine V., Patricia H. and Susan M. Cashman, who will each receive an Honorary Doctor of Science degree, all graduated from Middlebury College and went on to distinguished careers in the geological sciences.

Katharine V. Cashman is a volcanologist and professor of geological sciences at the University of Oregon. She graduated from Middlebury College in 1976, subsequently earning a master of science at Victoria University in New Zealand and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on how volcanoes erupt and why eruption styles vary.

Patricia H. Cashman is a research professor in the geological sciences at the University of Nevada in Reno. A 1972 graduate of Middlebury College, she earned her doctorate at the University of Southern California. A field-based structural geologist, she uses structural and geophysical techniques to solve regional tectonic problems, focusing particularly on the evolution of the Sierra Nevada basin, and the late Paleozoic deformation in north-central Nevada.

Susan M. Cashman is a professor of geology at Humboldt State University. She graduated from Middlebury College in 1972, and then earned a master of science and doctorate at the University of Washington. She is currently working on two main research projects. The first is a study of structures, particularly microstructures, formed by active faulting in near-
surface sediments. The second is the geologic evolution of the Klamath Mountains province of northern California and southern Oregon.

Churchill G. and Janet H. Franklin will receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Churchill Franklin is executive vice president and co-founder of Acadian Asset Management, a seventy-five billion dollar Boston-based global investment management firm. He is also a 1971 graduate of Middlebury College. A longtime volunteer for the college, Churchill was elected to Middlebury’s board of trustees in 1989, and served as chair of the board from 2000 to 2004. He became an emeritus trustee in 2005.
 
A 1972 graduate of Middlebury, Janet Franklin worked in the college’s office of alumni relations upon her graduation. She has been an active supporter of Middlebury for many years as a fundraiser, host of alumni events, reunion organizer, alumni admissions volunteer and career counselor. In her local community, she has served in a number of volunteer roles, including as a member of the board for the Concord Museum in Massachusetts. She currently works for Skinner, Inc., a Massachusetts-based antiques auction house and appraiser.

M. Arthur Jr. and Drue C. Gensler, co-founders of Gensler, the largest architectural firm in the United States, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Arthur Gensler, chairman of the firm, opened his first studio, M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates Architects, in San Francisco in 1965. Drue Gensler helped lead the company in many capacities and is a member of Gensler’s board of directors. Today the company has 3,000 employees and 30 offices around the world with more than $500 million in revenues. In 2000, the American Institute of Architects named it the Architectural Firm of the Year.

Drue Gensler has championed equal rights for women in her community of Marin County, Calif., where she has served in a number of volunteer roles, including as chairwoman of the Marin Commission on the Status of Women. At Middlebury College, she helped establish, and later served as an advisor to, the May Belle Chellis Women’s Resource Center. A 1957 graduate of Middlebury, Drue Gensler was a trustee of the college from 1994 to 2004. She and her husband are the grandparents of Aaron Gensler, a member of the Middlebury class of 2008.

Philip O. Geier, who will receive an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree with his wife, Amy Yeager Geier, is executive director of the Davis United World College Scholars Program, the world’s largest privately funded international scholarship program for undergraduates. He previously served as president of the United World College (UWC) in Montezuma, N.M. ? one of 12 UWC schools worldwide that attracts diverse students from around the globe for a two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma program.  Prior to his service with UWC, he was vice president for World Learning Inc. at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vt., where, under his direction, the program grew from a $7 million to $55 million operating budget. Geier serves on the board of trustees for the Monterey Institute for International Studies, which became affiliated with Middlebury College in 2005.

A two-time Fulbright recipient and renowned expert in international education, Philip Geier testified before congress in 2007 regarding trends and barriers among international students, and the implications for American universities and U.S. foreign policy.

Amy Yeager Geier, a fundraising and nonprofit management consultant, operates her own business, Geier Consulting Services, whose clients include philanthropists, educational institutions and other nonprofit organizations. Prior to starting her own firm, she was director of development for the United World College in Montezuma, N.M., from 1993 to 2005.

The Middlebury College graduation ceremonies, which will be held outdoors regardless of the weather, will take place on the main quadrangle behind Voter Hall on College Street (Route 125) at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 25.  More than 5,000 family and friends are expected to attend.