HAMILTON, N.Y. — Colgate University announced it has selected Richard Haass, president of the New York City–based Council on Foreign Relations, to deliver the commencement address at the university’s graduation ceremony on May 20.
The Council on Foreign Relations is an “independent, nonpartisan organization in the United States devoted to issues of foreign policy and international relations,” as described in a Colgate news release.
Besides Haass, Colgate will award four additional honorary degrees during the ceremony. The recipients will include Garry Kasparov, a Russian pro-democracy leader, human-rights activist, and former world chess champion.
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About Haass
In his 15th year as president of the council, Haass previously served as the senior Middle East advisor to President George H.W. Bush and director of the U.S. Department of State’s policy-planning staff, where he was a principal advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Haass has also served as U.S. coordinator for policy toward the future of Afghanistan and as the U.S. envoy to both the Cyprus and Northern Ireland peace talks.
A recipient of the state department’s Distinguished Honor Award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and the Tipperary International Peace Award, Haass is also the author or editor of 13 books on U.S. foreign policy and a book on management.
A Rhodes scholar, he holds master’s and doctorate degrees from Oxford University.
About Kasparov
Kasparov came to international fame as the youngest world chess champion in history at age 22 in 1985. His matches against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in 1996 and 1997 were “key to bringing artificial intelligence, and chess, into the mainstream,” according to Colgate.
A contributing editor to The Wall Street Journal, Kasparov is a “frequent” commentator on politics and human rights, and speaks about innovation, strategy, and peak mental performance to business audiences around the world.
He was the featured lecturer for the Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate series in 2010, the school said.
Additional honorary-degree recipients
Besides Haass and Kasparov, the honorary-degree recipients will also include Sian-Pierre Regis, who graduated from Colgate in 2006. He is founder of Swagger, an online cultural magazine and social-media presence for millennials. Regis has also worked as a social responsibility and eco-consciousness correspondent for MTV News and an on-camera contributor to CNN Headline News.
Colgate will also award an honorary degree to Jane Pinchin, who was one of the first women to teach at Colgate. Pinchin joined the school’s English department in 1969 and went on to serve in “most of the significant positions” in the academic administration.
They included provost, dean of the faculty, VP for academic advancement, and interim university president in 2001 and 2002.
Colgate will also award an honorary degree to Katharine Hayhoe, professor of political science and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University.
Hayhoe has been named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People and among Fortune’s 50 World’s Greatest Leaders.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
