| 2007 commencement to feature prominent media and policy figures BY SALLY ACHARYA
Diane Rehm
David Gregory
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.)
David Walker
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The faces and voices of two 2007 commencement speakers are widely recognized by the general public. Chief White House correspondent David Gregory, SIS ’92, and public radio talk host Diane Rehm both have reputations for asking the famous and powerful sharp, probing questions. Gregory will address the School of Communication (SOC) and School of International Service (SIS), while Rehm will speak to the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The commencement speaker at Washington College of Law (WCL) has been interviewed by Rehm: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). Graduates of the Kogod School of Business and School of Public Affairs (SPA), many of whom will be heading into careers in public policy or business, will hear from a person prominent in both fields: David Walker, who as U.S. Comptroller General heads the General Accountability Office. Walker has warned in the past that the United States faces a “demographic tsunami” with the retirement of the baby boomers and their demands on Social Security and Medicare, and has said that the United States has a “broken business model.” Gregory and Rehm both built careers on the foundation of their AU experiences, Gregory as a student who once wrote for the Eagle, and Rehm as a volunteer at AU’s radio station, WAMU, who eventually took over as host of what became nationally syndicated as The Diane Rehm Show. Back in 1992, Gregory was the one receiving a diploma from SIS. He took his degree to Albuquerque, but a few years later, he was back in Washington to cover the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and by 2000 was standing on the White House lawn as a 29-year-old correspondent for NBC News. Today he’s usually seen on the White House lawn, but also can be seen as a commentator and guest host on a variety of NBC and MSNBC news shows. Rehm, who will deliver the CAS address, has been host since 1984 of The Diane Rehm Show, produced at WAMU and distributed by National Public Radio. Global leaders and thinkers regularly sit down for a chat with her at WAMU’s studio, and she was the first radio host to interview a sitting president in the Oval Office when she spoke with Bill Clinton in 2000. Sen. Landrieu, who will speak at WCL, is known as a moderate Democrat who often crosses party lines and has worked with Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) to refashion a centrist coalition. As a moderate, she has voted to expand embryonic stem cell research but ban late-term abortions, and has opposed both a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and a ban on drilling in the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge. Elected in 1996, she is the senior Democrat from Louisiana and has criticized the administration over its handling of Hurricane Katrina. Walker’s position makes him the nation’s chief accountability officer and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a legislative branch founded by Congress to ensure the accountability of the government. The comptroller general serves a 15-year term, which gives Walker, who was appointed in 1998, a high level of independence. He is also on the selection committee of the Roger W. Jones Award for Executive Leadership, an SPA award that honors federal career executives annually for distinguished service to the public sector. The speakers will receive honorary degrees. Rehm and Gregory will receive honorary doctorates of humane letters, Walker a doctorate of public service, and Landrieu a doctorate of laws.
Abdul Aziz Said |
Pamela Nadell |
Abdul Aziz Said, director of the Center for Global Peace and Mohammed Said Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace, SIS, will be recognized at the SIS, SOC ceremony for his 50 years of service, and Pamela Nadell, Jewish studies and history, CAS, will be recognized as the Scholar/Teacher of the Year at the CAS ceremony. The graduation ceremonies for all schools but WCL will be on Sunday, May 13. WCL will hold commencement on Sunday, May 20. |
