2009 Commencement Speakers

Graduating seniors and their families will hear from an Academy Award winning  actress, a college president and author, a MacArthur genius, a longterm Bates philanthropist, and a Newsweek columnist and CNN host.
Actress Geena Davis and Mid-East policy expert Fareed Zakaria are the best known of the five speakers who will address the graduating class on Sunday, May 31.
Also addressing the new graduates are Reverend Robert M. Franklin Jr., a nationally known educator and president of Morehouse College; Mimi A.R. Koehl, a professor of biology at the University of California Berkeley and recipient of the MacArthur genius grant; and Ralph T. Perry ’51, a former Hannaford Brothers executive, Bates trustee and the philanthropist behind the Joan Holmes Perry Atrium, which is named for his late first wife.
Davis is best known for her role as Thelma in “Thelma and Louise,” which earned her a Best Actress nomination in 1991. Davis has also starred in “Stuart Little,” “A League of Their Own,” and the  TV shows “Commander in Chief,” “The Geena Davis Show” and “Buffalo Bill.”
Off-screen, Davis founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which supports research on the disparities between Hollywood’s depictions of women and men. Research published by the institute has shown that male characters outnumber female characters three-to-one in a sampling of films.
Davis won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 1998’s “The Accidental Tourist.”
Esquire magazine described Zakaria as “the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation.” Zakaria writes regularly for Newsweek on subjects ranging from mid-east policy to America’s role in the world.
He has authored several books including “From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America’s World Role,” “The Future of Freedom” and his most recent “The Post-American World.”
Additionally, Zakaria hosts a weekly international news program on CNN called “Fareed Zakaria GPS.” He also is a wine critic for Slate.com.
Franklin is the president of Morehouse College, a historically black college and the nation’s largest liberal arts college for men. He is also a frequent commentator on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.”
Franklin received his doctorate from the University of Chicago and his masters from the Harvard Divinity School.
Koehl’s research combines techniques from fluid and solid mechanics with those from biology. She is known for her integration of both laboratory and field work. Her research focuses on life and abilities of aquatic creatures.
Perry is a retired president of Progressive Distributors, former senior vice president of the Hannaford Brothers supermarket chain and frequent donor to the College. In 1979, Perry helped fund the Charles Franklin Phillips Professorship in economics; in 1992, he endowed a scholarship for Maine students who persevere in pursuit of their goals; in 1994, following the death of his first wife, Perry made a gift in her memory to create a three-story, 8,000-square-foot atrium in Pettengill Hall; and in 1999, he endowed a professorship in biology in honor of his friend, Dr. Helen A. Papaioanou ’49.
The College’s 143rd commencement ceremony will be help on the quad at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 31.

1 comments

Jesus Christ

Fri Jul 17 2009 17:41

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, the United States had an increase of 13 Million people from 2004 to 2009. That's only 5 years.
1. 25 years: 65 Million
2. 50 years: 130 Million
3. 100 years: 260 Million
4. 500 years: 1 Billion 300 Million
5. Current Population: 305 Million
6. Total: 1 Billion 605 Million
7. Result: A Miserable and Horrible End.
8. Solution: Stop creating and if you have children tell them when they grow up not to create

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out