Honorary Degree Recipients
May 2013
Ines Bustillo
Director of UNECLAC
Director of the Washington Office of the United Nations
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
Inés Bustillo is the director of the Washington, D.C., Office of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). She joined ECLAC in 1989 as economic affairs officer, working on a variety of topics including macroeconomic analysis, international trade and finance.
Previously, Bustillo was professor of economics at Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico City and a visiting faculty member at American University in Washington. Other positions held include consultant to the World Bank, the Center for Latin American and Monetary Studies, and Operadora de Bolsa in Mexico City.
She is the author of several articles and a frequent lecturer at universities, think tanks and other forums.
A national of Uruguay, Bustillo earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from American University.
Chaplain Barry Black
Chaplain, US Sentae
On June 27, 2003, retired Rear Adm. Barry C. Black was elected the 62nd chaplain of the United States Senate. Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, Black served in the U.S. Navy for more than 27 years, ending his distinguished career as the chief of Navy chaplains.
Commissioned as a Navy chaplain in 1976, was assigned to the Fleet Religious Support Activity in Norfolk, Va., for his first duty station. Subsequent assignments took him to six other states and Japan, and ultimately back to Norfolk at the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
As rear admiral, his personal decorations included the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal (two medals), Meritorious Service Medals (two awards), and Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals (two awards).
Black is a native of Baltimore and an alumnus of Oakwood College, Andrews University, North Carolina Central University, Eastern Baptist Seminary, Salve Regina University and United States International University. In addition to earning master's degrees in divinity, counseling and management, he holds a doctorate in ministry and a Ph.D. in psychology.
Black has been recognized for many outstanding achievements. Of particular note, he was chosen from 127 nominees for the 1995 NAACP Renowned Service Award for his contribution to equal opportunity and civil rights. He also received the 2002 Benjamin Elijah Mays Distinguished Leadership Award from the Morehouse School of Religion. In 2004, the Old Dominion University chapter of the NAACP conferred on him the Image Award for military excellence.
He is the author of two books, "The Blessing of Adversity" and "From the Hood to the Hill."
The role of the chaplain as spiritual adviser and counselor has expanded over the years from a part-time position to a full-time job as one of the Officers of the Senate. The Office of the Chaplain is nonpartisan, nonpolitical and nonsectarian. In addition to opening the Senate each day in prayer, Black's duties include counseling and spiritual care for the senators, their families and their staffs, a combined constituency of 6,000 people. His days are filled with meeting senators about spiritual and moral issues, assisting senators' staffs with research on theological and biblical questions, and facilitating discussion and reflection for small groups among senators and staff.
John Duffy
Composer and Conductor
John Duffy, considered "one of the great heroes of American Music," has composed more than 300 works for symphony, orchestra, opera, theater, television and film. He has received many awards for his contributions to music including two Emmys, the American Music Center's Founders' Award for Lifetime Achievement, an ASCAP award for special recognition in film and television music, a New York State Governor's Art Award and the (New York City) Mayor's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture.
Duffy, who lives in Norfolk, Va., grew up in the Bronx, one of 14 children of Irish immigrant parents. As a young man, he studied composition with noted composers Aaron Copland, Henry Cowell, Luigi Dallapiccola, Solomon Rosowsky and Herbert Zipper concurrently with his career and early successes in the theater.
Duffy's appointment, in his 20s, to the post of music director, composer and conductor of Shakespeare Under the Stars, was the first in a succession of similar posts at the Guthrie Theater, the Long Wharf Theatre and the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center, and for NBC and ABC television in New York City. The culmination was his landmark music for the production of "Macbeth" at John Houseman's American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn.
As founder and president of Meet the Composer, an organization dedicated to the creation, performance and recording of music by American composers, he initiated countless landmark programs to advance American music and to aid American composers of all forms of musical expression.
His profound regard for language, its beauties and its powers, suited him ideally for his work in theater, television and film. He acquired a reputation early on as a first-class interpreter of ideas and emotion, a brilliant orchestrator and a sensitive colleague.
He composed notable theater scores for Broadway and Off-Broadway productions of "The Ginger Man," "MacBird," "Mother Courage," "Playboy of the Western World" and many Shakespeare plays, including his memorable collaboration with John Houseman.
Duffy also has composed distinguished concert music for a variety of commissions, among them: "A Time for Remembrance" (cantata for soprano, speaker and orchestra), commissioned by the U.S. government to mark the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor; "Symphony No. 1: Utah," commissioned by the Sierra Club to draw attention to preserving and protecting public lands in southern Utah; "Freedom Overture," commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall; "Concerto for Stan Getz and Concert Band"; and the Emmy Award-winning score for the PBS documentary "Heritage - Civilization and the Jews."
His opera, "Black Water," libretto by Joyce Carol Oates, premiered in Philadelphia in 2001, followed by performances in Los Angeles, Seattle, Lincoln Center and Cooper Union Hall in New York City, as well as performances in Maine. His most recent work is "We Want Mark Twain," a composition for string quartet with narration, based on Twain's writings, commissioned by the Howard Hanson Institute of American Music at the Eastman School of Music, for the Ying Quartet.
Duffy currently works in conjunction with the Virginia Arts Festival and Old Dominion University on the John Duffy Composers Institute. Founded in 2005, the institute is dedicated to the inspiration, creation and performance of new music by living composers. Duffy's vision is for the institute to provide gifted young composers the opportunity to create and hear their compositions performed/staged while working alongside senior master composers, singers, pianists and theater professionals.
December 15, 2012
Dr. Christine M. Darden
Raised by parents who emphasized the importance of education, Dr. Christine Mann Darden has become a leader in the field of sonic boom technology. Born in Monroe, N.C., Darden came to Virginia to study at the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), where she received a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1962. She taught mathematics at a series of high schools before deciding to continue her education at Virginia State College (now Virginia State University), earning a master's in applied mathematics.
In 1967, after spending a year as an instructor at VSU, Darden began her career at NASA as a data analyst. Five years later, she switched to an engineering position and began taking supporting engineering courses. One of her first independent assignments was working in sonic boom research. Sonic booms, the explosive sound that occurs when airplanes fly beyond the speed of sound over ground, can be powerful enough to shatter windows and damage structures. The problems associated with supersonic travel over land have stymied its expansion in the United States and most other countries.
Through her research and the redesign of supersonic airplanes to minimize destructive sound, Darden has become a leader in sonic boom technology. In 1983, she earned a Doctor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. During her career at NASA, Darden has served as a senior program manager in the High Speed Research Program Office, working to develop the technology for building a supersonic airplane by the year 2015. From 1999 to 2002, as the director of the Aero Performing Center Program Management Office at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, she oversaw the Center's work in Rotorcraft, Air Space Capacity, Information Technology and High Performance Computing. Darden has written and published more than 60 technical papers and articles, primarily in the areas of sonic boom prediction, sonic boom minimization and supersonic wing design.
As an African American woman engineer, Darden has overcome the twin barriers of gender and racial discrimination. She uses her success to advocate increasing the number of women and minorities in the sciences by speaking on issues of gender and racial equality. Darden has been recognized with dozens of awards and honors, including two NASA medals, several NASA Outstanding Performance and Achievement Awards and the Black Engineer of the Year Outstanding Achievement in Government Award.
During her 40-year career at NASA Langley, Darden's contributions have ranged from research in supersonic aerodynamics, where she was recognized as an international expert in the area of sonic boom minimization, to national program leadership of the environmental aspects of supersonic operations, to agency strategic planning, project and program management, and finally to the area of
communications and education. Darden retired from NASA Langley in 2007.
Kenneth A. Samet has been MedStar Health's president and chief executive officer since January 2008. Samet previously served as the president and chief operating officer of MedStar Health since 2003, and was responsible for all operational aspects of the more than 25 companies that comprise the largest, not-for-profit, health care delivery system in the region, with annual revenues of $4 billion. Prior to that, Samet served as COO since the system's inception in 1998. With more than a quarter of a century of experience in health care administration in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., metropolitan region, Samet has provided strategic oversight and management for MedStar Health's nine hospitals, a comprehensive network of ambulatory centers, the region's largest comprehensive home health organization and a large primary care physician practice network. MedStar Health is one of the largest employers in the region with more than 26,000 associates and 5,300 affiliated physicians, serving more than half a million patients and their families each year.
He has dedicated his career to health care since receiving his master's degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan in 1982. Samet served as president of Washington Hospital Center, one of the nation's 20 largest tertiary care hospitals, in the District of Columbia from 1990 to 2000. From the mid-1980s to 1990, he held a variety of executive leadership positions with the Medlantic Healthcare Group, which merged with Helix Health in 1998 to create MedStar Health.
Samet is currently a member of the board of directors at Georgetown University and with the Greater Baltimore Committee, and serves on the Executive Committee of the boards of the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Federal City Council. He has held leadership positions on the boards of the American Hospital Association (AHA), District of Columbia Hospital Association and Maryland Hospital Association. Samet recently served as the chairman of AHA's Regional Policy Board III.
In addition, he served on the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Samet is also a past board member and chair of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Old Dominion University Board of Visitors. He received a bachelor's degree in business administration from ODU in 1980. In 1996, the American College of Healthcare Executives named Samet the national Young Healthcare Administrator of the Year.
Rev. Joseph N. Green Jr.
He served congregations in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina and as chaplain at St. Augustine's College. In 1963, he was called to Grace Episcopal Church in Norfolk, where he served as rector for 30 years. He was an outstanding and compassionate pastor to his church and his community. Under his leadership, Grace Church sponsored the first Head Start program in the Tidewater region, co-sponsored PlumbLine Ministries, to build more than 100 single-family houses in the Grace Church neighborhood, and collaborated with Covenant Presbyterian Church to build more than 100 townhouses and duplexes in the Bond Heights section.
Rev. Green served on the Norfolk School Board before his election to the Norfolk City Council, where he served for 20 years, including 12 years as vice mayor. He advocated for civil rights for African Americans and fair play for all as he worked for the betterment of Norfolk.
Highlights of his tenure include the promotion of mass transit, and his efforts to promote affordable and accessible housing in Norfolk led to new housing in many sections of the city. His work to establish a downtown campus of Tidewater Community College was recognized by the naming of the TCC administration building in his honor.
May 4 & 5, 2012
The Tuskegee Airmen of Hampton Roads
Corporal Wilbert Gore, Sr., USA, Ret.
Master Sergeant Ezra Hill, USA, Ret.
Lieutenant Colonel Francis Horne, USA, Ret.
Sergeant Harry Quinton, USA, Ret.
Chief Master Sergeant Grant Williams, USA, Ret.
In spite of adversity and limited opportunities, African Americans have played a significant role in U.S. military history over the past 300 years. They were denied military leadership roles and skilled training because many believed they lacked qualifications for combat duty. Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military. Civil rights organizations and the black press exerted pressure that resulted in the formation of an all-African-American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1941. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
Les Payne
Honorary Degree Recipient
Les Payne, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, is a former columnist for Newsday. The paper's recent associate editor was responsible for national/foreign and health and science news for a quarter century. He also served as Newsday's New York editor. His news staffs won every major award in journalism, including six Pulitzer Prizes.
December 17, 2011
Baron and Ellin Gordon
Honorary Degree Recipients
Baron Gordon, of Williamsburg, Va., along with his wife, Ellin Gordon, is among the leading American folk art collectors in the United States. A retired member of the New York Stock Exchange, he was among the early board members of the Folk Art Society of America, established in 1987. Both he an his wife have been members of the National Advisory Board of the Folk Art Society of America for many years.
May 7, 2011
Jack L. Ezzell Jr.
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Jack L. Ezzell Jr. is the founder and chief executive officer of Zel Technologies, LLC (ZelTech), one of the nation's premier professional services firms. He is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and holds an M.B.A. from Ohio State University. A retired U.S. Air Force colonel who served in significant military posts in the United States and Asia, Ezzell is recognized as a leader in applying advanced technology solutions to critical defense problems.
Paul O. Hirschbiel Jr.
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Paul Hirschbiel is the owner and president of Eden Capital, a consulting firm in Virginia Beach that focuses on both for-profit and not-for-profit consulting and investing. He moved to Virginia in 1997 following a successful career in venture capital in New York City.
Harvey L. Lindsay Jr.
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Harvey L. Lindsay Jr. joined the firm of Harvey Lindsay and Company, now Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate, in 1954. He was elected president and CEO in 1969 and currently serves as chairman. Lindsay earned professional designations as Certified Shopping Center Manager from the International Council of Shopping Centers in 1978 and the Certified Commercial Investment Member from the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute in 1994.
December 18, 2010
R. Bruce Bradley
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Bruce Bradley retired in 2008 as president of the Landmark Publishing Group, a position he had held since 1999. He served nearly 35 years in the newspaper business, all within the Norfolk-based Landmark Media Enterprises LLC (formerly Landmark Communications) and its entities.
Admiral William J. Fallon, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Awarded the Doctor of Science, Honorus Causa.
Ad. William J. Fallon retired from the U.S. Navy in 2008 after a distinguished 40-year career of military and strategic leadership. He has led U.S. and allied forces in eight separate commands and played a leadership role in military and diplomatic matters at the highest levels of government.
Katherine Johnson
Awarded the Doctor of Science, Honorus Causa.
Katherine Johnson, a pioneer of the American space movement, was born in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., and was trained as a mathematician and physicist. Because the local schools only offered classes to African Americans through the eighth grade, her father enrolled his children in a school 125 miles away from their home, where her mother and siblings lived during the academic year. She graduated from high school at age 14, and from college at 18.
May 8, 2010
Alina Cho
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Alina Cho is a national correspondent for CNN as well as a contributor to "American Morning" on CNN/U.S. She joined the network in 2004. Most recently, Cho covered the election of President Barack Obama live from Chicago's Grant Park, where he gave his acceptance speech. She spoke exclusively with Oprah Winfrey, one of Obama's biggest supporters, about his win.
Elizabeth A. Duke
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Elizabeth A. Duke took office as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors on August 5, 2008, to fill an unexpired term ending January 31, 2012. Prior to her appointment to the board, Duke was senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of TowneBank, a Virginia-based community bank. Before that, she was an executive vice president at Wachovia Bank, and an executive vice president at SouthTrust Bank. Earlier in her career, Duke was president and chief executive officer of Bank of Tidewater, based in Virginia Beach.
Klaus Scharioth, Ph.D.
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Klaus Scarioth, German ambassador to the United States, presented his credentials to President George W. Bush on March 13, 2006. Prior to his appointment as ambassador, Scharioth had served as state secretary, the highest civil service post in the German Foreign Office, since 2002. His portfolio included security and defense policy, transatlantic reltaions, European policy, crisis management, arms control and disarmament, the negotiations with Iran, Russia, G-8, and budget and personnel. After June 2005, his responsibilities further widened to include the United Nations, human rights and bilateral relations between Germany an all other countries.
Patricia J. Williams, J.D.
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Patricia J. Williams writes the monthly "Diary of a Mad Law Professor" for The Nation magazine. Her wry, witty columns cover broad issues of social justice, including the rhetoric of the war on terror, race, ethnicity, gender, all aspects of civil rights law, bioethics and eugenics, forensic uses of DNA, and comparative issues of class and culture in the United States, France and Britain.
December 19, 2009
Adriane M. Brown
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Adriane M. Brown is an accomplished executive with 29 yeras of leadership experience in the electronics, automotive and aerospace industries. Following 19 years at Corning, and having risen to vice president and general manager of the Environmental Products Division, as well as a corporate officer, she joined Honeywell in 1999. In April 2009, Brown was appointed to senior vice president for energy strategy to develop energy policy and marketplace strategies across all Honeywell businesses and functions. She continues as a corporate officer and member of Honeywell's senior executive team.
Benjamin S. Carson Sr., M.D.
Awarded the Doctor of Science, Honorus Causa.
Benjamin S. Carson had a childhood dream of becoming a physician. But growing up in a single-parent home and being challenged by dire poverty, poor grades, a horrible temper and low self-esteem appeared to preclude the realization of that dream until his mother, with only a third-grade education, challenged her sons to strive for excellence. Young Ben persevered, and today is a full professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, hwere he has directed pediatric neurosurgery at the Children's Center for more than 25 years. In May 2008, he became the inaugural recipient of the Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D. and Dr. Evelyn Spiro, R.N. Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery.
Blythe J. McGarvie
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Blythe J. McGarvie, of Williamsburg, is one of the world's leading authorities on global financial ethics, women in business and boardroom leadership. She is chief executive officer of LIF Group and serves on the boards of Accenture, Pepsi Bottling Group, The Travelers Companies Inc., Viacom and Wawa. She has operated profitable business units and managed employees in business endeavors from China to Chile, and France to Finland. McGarvie has been CFO of a Fortune 500 company in the United States and of a leading consumer goods company in Paris.
Marilyn Tam
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Marilyn Tam is a corporate consultant, speaker, author, executive director and founder of Us Foundation. She speaks, trains and consults with companies and governments globally on leadership, change management, diversity and how to integrate social and environmental issues to develop and enhance successful organizations. She is also a partner and "co-visioneer" of HealthWalk, a leading-edge, integrated health care services and products company.
May 9, 2009
Frank Foster
Awarded the Doctor of Music, Honorus Causa.
Frank Foster is one of the most prominent African American jazz composers, arrangers and performers in the world of jazz today.
Lt. Gen. Kathleen Gainey '78
Awarded the Doctor of Science, Honorus Causa.
Lt. Gen. Kathleen M. Gainey is the director for logistics, J4, Joint Chiefs of Staff. She earned her commission as a second lieutenant through ROTC in 1978 upon her graduation from Old Dominion University, where she received a bachelor's degree in special education.
David Gergen
Awarded the Doctor of Science, Honorus Causa.
Commentator, editor, teacher, public servant, best-selling author and adviser to presidents: For 30 years, David Gergen has been an active participant in American national life. He served as director of communications for President Ronald Regan and held positions in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. In 1993, he put his country before politics when he agreed to first serve as counselor to President Bill Clinton on both foreign policy and domestic affairs, then as special international adviser to the president and to Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
Patricia A. King
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Patricia A. King is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Medicine, Ethics and Public Policy at Georgetown Law Center and the first African American woman to be elected to the Harvard Corporation.
Donald A. B. Lindberg, M.D.
Awarded the Doctor of Science, Honorus Causa.
Donald A. B. Lindberg, M.D., is a scientist who has been a pioneer in applying computer technology to health care, beginning in 1960 at the University of Missouri. In 1984, he was appointed director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world's largest biomedical library. From 1992-95, he served in a concurrent position as founding director of the National Coordination Office for High Performance Computing and Communications in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President. In 1995, he was named by the secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to be the U.S. coordinator for the G-7 Global Health Applications Project.
Russell Stanger
Awarded the Doctor of Music, Honorus Causa.
At the age of 12, Russell Stanger organized his first orchestra - of neighborhood children in Newton, Mass. It was the precursor of a storied music career. He received a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1952, and four years later won the Eugene Ormandy National Conductors Competition in Philadelphia. He organized the Boston Little Orchestra In 1958, and served as assitant conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 1960-62 under Leonard Bernstein. From 1964-66, he was associate conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony (now the Minnesota Orchestra).
December 13, 2008
Delores Johnson Brown
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Delores Johnson Brown, who helped break the color barrier in Norfolk's public schools as a member of the Norfolk 17, was on eof seven African American children to integrate Norview High School on Feb. 2, 1959. She was 16 years old and a junior when the 17 students entered six previously all-white middle and high schools in the city. The schools had been closed for five months following Virginia's massive resistance effort to avoid the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which mandated desegregation in the nation's schools.
Anne Donovan
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Anne Donovan graced the sport of women's basketball at Old Dominion University from 1979 to 1983, helping lead the Lady Monarchs to a national championship in 1980 and two more Final Four appearances.
Robert L. Fodrey Sr.
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Robert (Bob) L. Fodrey Sr. is a retired director of the U.S. Navy's Regional Office Civilian Manpower Management in Norfolk. In all, he is credited with 41 years of federal service with the Navy in Hampton Roads. For 25 years, local leaders of every naval activity with civilian personnel were influenced by his on-the-job presence.
Patricia Turner
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Patricia Turner, who helped break the color barrier in Norfolk's public schools as a member of the Norfolk 17, was one of five African American children, which included her brother James, to integrate Norview Junior High School on Feb. 2, 1959. She was 14 years old, starting her final semseter as an eighth-grader, when the 17 students entered six previously all-white middle and high schools in the city. The schools had been closed for five months following Virginia's massive resistance effort to avoid the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which mandated desegregation in the nation's schools.
May 10, 2008
Richard F. Barry III
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Richard F. Barry III served on the Old Dominion University Board of Visitors from 1985 to 1993. During that time, he held positions as rector (1988-90) and vice rector (1986-88). Barry also served on the University's Educational Foundation Board of Trustees, co-chaired the University's first Capital Campaign and created the Richard F. Barry, Jr. Chair in Mathematics in the College of Sciences.
Deborah M. DiCroce
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Deborah M. DiCroce, a South Hampton Roads native and lifelong Virginian, has devoted her career to public service. A proven leader in forging partnerships for the public good, Dr. DiCroce has headed Tidewater Community College - the largest provider of undergraduate education in Hampton Roads - since May 1998. During her tenure, TCC has experienced 10 consecutive years of enrollment increases, serving nearly 39,000 credit students in 2007-08.
Ethel L. Grandy
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Ethel L. Grandy, a mother, grandmother and great grandmother, became an activist at a very early age. She recruited and trained neighborhood residents in local communities to vote at a time when it was not popular for women to lead these activities. She joined the Oak Grove Civic League in her early twenties and rose through the ranks to become president. One of her achievements was encouraging other local civic leagues to establish a joint executive committee for the purpose of recruiting residents to become active members. Local politicians routinely met with the committee.
Chris Matthews
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
A television news anchor with significant depth of experience, Matthews has distinguished himself as a broadcast journalist, newpaper bureau chief, presidential speechwriter and best-selling author. Matthews covered the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first all-races election in South Africa, the Good Friday Peace Accord in Northern Ireland, and the funeral of Pope John Paul II. He has covered every American presidential election campaign since the 1980s.
Leonard Pitts Jr.
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Leonard Pitts Jr. joined The Miami Herald in 1991 as its pop music critic. Since 1994, he has penned a syndicated column of commentary on pop culture, social issues and family life. His most recent book, "Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood," was released in May 1999.
Frank Reidy
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
A resident of Virginia Beach since 1986, Frank Reidy is president of McClees Associates, LLC. Along with his partners, Reidy also started an oil and gas exploration and production business in Pennsylvania, which employs 100 people and operates 1,000 wells.
Dr. Charles A. Taylor
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Dr. Charles A. Taylor assumed the role of president of Thomas Nelson Community College on July 1, 2004. He holds a doctorate in Educational Administration and Supervision from Loyola Univesrity of Chicago, a master's degree in Education from The Johns Hopkins University a bachelor's degree in Sociology from the Univesrity of Maryland, Baltimore County.
December 15, 2007
Conrad M. Hall
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Hall serves as president and chief executive officer of Dominion Enterprises, a Landmark Communications-owned company that provides media and information services to the employment, automotive, real estate, marine, recreation and industrial markets. A native of Norfolk, he joined Landmark Communications Inc. in 1970 and has since served in a variety of business operations and financial positions before moving into his current role.
Thelma Harrison
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Harrison has been an active participant in the civil rights movement her entire life. Born in Norfolk, she attended the segregated J.J. Smallwood Elementary School, which was once located on the present Old Dominion University campus. She later moved to New York City where she was a nurse at Lenox Hill Hospital, and she worked with U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. for 30 years in the area of voter registration. Today, she continues to work in her community, including registering voters in her neighborhood.
ADM Edmund P. Giambastiani, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Awarded the Doctor of Science, Honorus Causa.
Giambastiani is a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's second-highest ranking military officer. During a 37-year naval career, Giambastiani was the first director of strategy and concepts at the Doctrine Command and led several submarine and anti-submarine commands. In these roles, he supported the creation of an Old Dominion University master's degree devised specifically for Navy nuclear-qualified officers, to be delivered by asynchronous technologies above and below the ocean's surface.
GEN Benjamin S. Griffin
Awarded the Doctor of Science, Honorus Causa.
Griffin, commanding general of the U.S. Army Materiel Command headquartered at Fort Belvoir, graduated from Old Dominion University in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in business management. As commanding general, Griffin directs a workforce of 50,000 military and civilian employees, located in 45 states and 38 countries, whose missions range from the development of sophisticated weapons systems and research to the maintenance and distribution of spare parts worldwide. Prior to his current assignment, he was the Army's deputy chief of staff.
George C. Crawley
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Crawley has dedicated his life to serving the city of Norfolk, and was eventually promoted to assistant city manager in 1982, a post he would hold for 14 years. After retiring, Crawley returned to public service in 1997 as assistant executive director for community building with Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Active in the community, Crawley is the founder, president and chairman of the board of The 200+ Men Inc., a regional organization of African American men who work to improve access to opportunities in education, economic development and community betterment.
M.G. Vassanji
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Vassanji, a nuclear physicist turned writer, grew up in Kenya and Tanzania. He is a co-founder of a literary magazine, The Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abroad, and in 1989 published his first novel, "The Gunny Sack." He has gone on to write six more novels and two collections of short stories. His most recent novel, "The Assassin's Song," was a finalist for both the Giller Prize and the Governor-General's Literary Awards for best novel in Canada.
May 5, 2007
Marian Wright Edelman
Awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa.
Ms. Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), was the speaker for the morning commencement ceremony on May 5, 2007.