Lehigh prepares for its 147th Commencement

Celebrated biographer, journalist and public policy thought leader Walter Isaacson will deliver the address at Lehigh University’s 147th commencement on Monday, May 18, in Goodman Stadium. He will also receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

A doctoral degree hooding ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 17, in Baker Hall of the Zoellner Arts Center, and at 4 p.m., Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, will address the graduating class at the university’s annual Baccalaureate service in Packer Memorial Church.

Foner will join Isaacson in receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. H.D., Hilda Doolittle, an American poet, novelist and memoirist, will receive a posthumous honorary Doctor of Letters. Costel “Cos” Denson ’56, one of the most respected minds in the world in the field of fluid mechanics, and Nicole King, an American biologist and faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley in molecular and cell biology and integrative biology, will each receive an honorary Doctor of Science.

Social media will complement coverage of Lehigh commencement ceremonies once again. University Communications and Public Affairs will provide live updates and reactions to this year’s celebration through an online social media grid. The grid, which can be viewed at Inside Lehigh and at the 2015 commencement page, will feature tweets and Instagram posts from graduates, family, friends and alumni who use the #lehighgrad hashtag. Live-streaming video of the ceremony also will be available.

Advice for guests

Commencement guests should plan to arrive at Goodman Stadium and be seated no later than 9:30 a.m. to prevent traffic delays. The ceremony will begin promptly at 10 a.m. Those traveling to Lehigh from Interstate 78 may encounter delays on Monday morning due to construction along Route 412 off Exit 67 (Bethlehem/Hellertown exit). There will be police officers on duty to help move traffic along. However, travelers are advised to build in additional time in order to arrive at Goodman Stadium by the 10 a.m. start of the commencement ceremony.

For comfort and convenience, an indoor ceremony viewing site will be available in Stabler Arena, located south of Goodman Stadium.  Shuttles will be available to transport guests between the stadium and arena during the ceremony. Guests taking advantage of this alternate viewing site should park in the lots surrounding Stabler Arena.

General parking will be available on Goodman Campus in the lots adjacent to Stabler Arena. Parking attendants will direct cars to parking areas that are located approximately 600 yards from the stadium.

Individuals who require special parking or seating due to a disability can be accommodated. Additionally, shuttle service will be available from the Stabler Arena handicapped parking area to the stadium. For more information, click on mobility-impaired parking and seating options or contact the Office of University Events at 610-758-3898 or inuday@lehigh.edu.

Distinguished speakers

The former chairman and CEO of CNN and editor of TIME magazine, Walter Isaacson is the author of Steve Jobs (2011), Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003), and Kissinger: A Biography (1992), for which he received a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1993. Isaacson is also coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986). His most recent book is The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, a biographical tale of the people who invented the computer, Internet and other great innovations of our time.

In 2012, Isaacson was selected as one of the Time 100, the magazine’s list of the most influential people in the world. He was described in that publication by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as a “purveyor of knowledge, a supplier to addicts who seek a deeper understanding of all manner of things.”

Most recently, he was selected by the National Endowment for the Humanities to deliver the 2014 Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government’s highest honor for achievement in the humanities.

Born in New Orleans, Isaacson is a graduate of Harvard College and of Pembroke College of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He began his career at The Sunday Times of London and then the New Orleans Times-Picayune/States-Item.

Isaacson joined TIME in 1978 and served as a political correspondent, national editor, and editor of new media before becoming the magazine’s 14th editor in 1996. He became chairman and CEO of CNN in 2001, and then president and CEO of the Aspen Institute in 2003.

Isaacson is chair emeritus of Teach for America, which recruits recent college graduates to teach in underserved communities. He was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and other international broadcasts of the United States, a position he held until 2012.

He is vice-chair of Partners for a New Beginning, a public-private group tasked with forging ties between the United States and the Muslim world. He is on the board of United Airlines, Tulane University, and the Overseers of Harvard University. From 2005-2007, after Hurricane Katrina, he was the vice-chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority.

Foner, who will speak to graduates at the Baccalaureate service, is a highly respected American historian, who specializes in the Civil War and Reconstruction, slavery, and 19th-century America. He is one of only two persons to serve as president of the Organization of American Historians, American Historical Association and Society of American Historians. Foner also has been the curator of several museum exhibitions, including the prize-winning "A House Divided: America in the Age of Lincoln" at the Chicago Historical Society.

Foner’s publications have concentrated on the intersections of intellectual, political, and social history, and the history of American race relations. His works have been highly praised in scholarly journals and by reviews in periodicals across the political spectrum. His book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery won the Pulitzer Prize in History, Bancroft Prize, and Lincoln Prize for 2011. His latest book is Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. Foner earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University.

The title of his talk at the Baccalaureate service will be "Moral Courage."

For more information about all of the weekend’s events, visit Lehigh’s commencement page.

Tweet with us during Commencement using #lehighgrad.