March
21, 2003 Blume
to Speak at Commencement
Judy Blume, whose
novels that center around real issues in her young readers’
lives have made her one of the best-loved authors of her time,
will speak at Mount Holyoke’s 166th commencement, Sunday,
May 25. Blume will receive the degree of doctor of arts from the
College. She will be joined by four other honorary degree recipients:
Jane Garvey MAT ’69, former administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration; Nancy Woodward Hendrie ’54, a pediatrician
who founded an organization to assist orphaned and homeless children
in Cambodia; James A. Joseph, former United States ambassador
to South Africa; and Amartya Sen, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize
in economics.
“I am delighted that Judy Blume has accepted our invitation
to be our commencement speaker,” said President Joanne V.
Creighton. “Her many books have helped introduce countless
young people to literature. On our campus, and on campuses everywhere,
are students who have her to thank for a lifelong love of reading.
Her readers love her for her realism, her willingness to take
seriously their thoughts about the issues of everyday life. I
am certain that our students will find her talk both enjoyable
and inspiring.”
Blume has written twenty-two books, including three best-selling
novels for adults. Her books have made publishing history since
the appearance in 1970 of Are You There God? It’s Me,
Margaret, one of the first novels to deal frankly with the
issues of early adolescence, and have won more than ninety awards.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was included on
the New York Times list of Outstanding Books of the Year
in 1970, the first of many citations for Blume’s books.
In 1996 she received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime
Achievement from the American Library Association.
More than 70 million copies of Blume’s books have been sold
worldwide. She has written for young children (Tales of a
Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge, Fudge-a-mania), middle-grade
children (Blubber, It’s Not the End of the World, Just
as Long as We’re Together, etc.) and young adults (Tiger
Eyes, Forever). The Fudge books have been adapted for television.
She is currently at work on other TV adaptations of her novels.
In a 1998 interview with Cybergrrl magazine, Blume said
that she wants her readers “to come away thinking about
the characters and story long after I’ve reached the last
line. I want them to become emotionally involved. I want them
to be reminded, without being hit over the head, what’s
really important in life. And I want them to have a good time
while I’m doing it.”
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Jane F. Garvey
MAT ’69
(Doctor of Humane Letters)
Jane Garvey’s distinguished career in government spans more
than a decade. In 1997, after four years working for the Federal
Highway Administration, she was the first administrator confirmed
by the Senate to a five-year term as the fourteenth administrator
of the Federal Aviation Administration. During her tenure there,
she successfully managed both the Y2K preparedness program and
the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Garvey initiated Safer Skies, the U.S. aviation community’s
safety agenda, which focuses the agency’s resources on taking
the actions that safety data and analysis indicate can make the
biggest difference in lowering the accident rate. She led the
successful transition of the FAA’s air traffic control system
to January 1, 2000, with no disruptions in service. In addition,
the FAA provided world leadership on Y2K transition. Under Garvey’s
leadership, the FAA continued to move forward on its phased plan
to modernize the air traffic control system and, for the first
time, achieved government and industry consensus on how to proceed.
To bring immediate modernization benefits, she initiated the Free
Flight Phase 1 program, under which the FAA reached consensus
with the aviation community to deploy
five specific technologies by the end of 2002.
Before being named FAA administrator, Garvey was acting administrator
of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). She served as deputy
administrator of FHWA from April 1993 until February 1997. A creative
leader at FHWA, Garvey chaired its Innovative Financing Initiative,
which resulted in more than $4 billion in transportation investment
in more than thirty states—projects that in many cases would
have not been otherwise built. Garvey earned a master’s
degree in English instruction at Mount Holyoke in 1969 and later
taught English and history at South Hadley High School.
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Nancy Woodward
Hendrie ’54 (Doctor of Science)
Dr. Nancy W. Hendrie had been a pediatrician in Concord and Carlisle
for more than twenty-six years, when in 1994 she left private
practice and began work in Asian orphanages. She later started
her own adoption agency, Adopt Cambodia, which has placed Cambodian
infants and children with more than 200 New England families.
In 1998, Hendrie founded The Sharing Foundation (TSF), to assist
orphaned and homeless children in Cambodia. TSF has also built
two schools and rehabilitated another, where it continues to provide
supplies. In 1999, TSF established a large rural farming project
that provides food and income to thirty-four of the poorest families
of Thom village, including 107 children, and set up an English
teaching program for more than 300 children. In 2002, Hendrie
was recognized by the Middlesex Central District of the Massachusetts
Medical Society as a Community Clinician of the Year, an award
that recognizes practitioners who have made significant contributions
to patients and to their respective communities.
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James A. Joseph
(Doctor of Humane Letters)
James Joseph is professor of the practice of public policy studies
and executive director of the United States-Southern Africa Center
for Leadership and Public Values at Duke University. Nominated
by President Clinton and confirmed by the United States Senate
in December 1995, he was the first and only American ambassador
to present his credentials to President Nelson Mandela. In 1999,
President Thabo Mbeki awarded him the Order of Good Hope, the
highest honor the Republic of South Africa bestows on a citizen
of another country.
Joseph has had a distinguished career in government, business,
education, and philanthropy. He has served four United States
presidents. He was appointed to the number two position in the
Department of the Interior by President Carter and also served
as chairman of the Commission on the Northern Marianas. He was
a member of the Advisory Committee to the Agency for International
Development under President Reagan, and was appointed an incorporating
director of the Points of Light Foundation and a member of the
Board of Advisers on Historically Black Colleges of President
George H.W. Bush. President Clinton appointed him the first chairman
of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National Service.
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Amartya Sen
(Doctor of Laws)
Amartya Sen is master of Trinity College, Cambridge,
United Kingdom, and Lamont University Professor Emeritus at Harvard
University. He has served as president of the Econometric Society,
the Indian Econometric Association, the American Economic Association,
and the International Economic Association. He is also honorary
adviser of Oxfam. Before joining Harvard in 1987, he was the Drummond
Professor of Political Economy at Oxford University and a fellow
of All Souls College. Prior to that, he was professor of economics
at Delhi University and at the London School of Economics. Sen
has received honorary doctorates from major universities in North
America, Europe, and Asia. Among the awards he has received are
the Bharat Ratna (the highest honor awarded by the President of
India); the Presidency of the Italian Republic Medal; the Eisenhower
Medal; and the Nobel Prize in Economics.
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