A Brief on Duke's Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients

The 2014 commencement speaker and honorary degree recipients are at the top of their fields, but they may not be household names. Here's a brief look at their accomplishments.

 

Commencement Speaker

Martin E. Dempsey

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

General Martin Dempsey is the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As the highest-ranking military officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, he is the principal military adviser to the President, the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council. Dempsey assumed his current assignment on October 1, 2011.

Prior to becoming Chairman, he served as the Army’s 37th Chief of Staff. During more than 37 years of military service, he has commanded at every echelon -- from platoon to combatant command across the United States and the globe.

Before becoming Chief of Staff of the Army, he commanded U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, served as the Deputy Commander and then Acting Commander of U.S. Central Command, and spent two years in Iraq to train and equip Iraqi Security Forces.

General Dempsey's awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Distinguished Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with "V" Device and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Action Badge, and the Parachutist Badge.

Martin Dempsey received a bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1974, followed by a master's degree in English from Duke in 1984. "My time at Duke was an intellectual oasis after a long march," Dempsey has said. "It allowed me time to broaden my perspective from the confines of military life and open it to another world, full of new ideas, viewpoints, issues and stories which helped me develop."

He also has master's degrees in military art from the United States Army Command and General Staff College and in national security studies from the National War College. He taught in the English Department at West Point.

  

Honorary Degrees

Carolyn Bertozzi

Carolyn Bertozzi

Doctor of Science

Faculty Sponsor: Katherine J. Franz

Carolyn Bertozzi is the T.Z. and Irmgard Chu Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California at Berkeley, an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Senior Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Professor Bertozzi's research interests span the disciplines of chemistry and biology, focusing on how oligosaccharides, or sugars, on cell surfaces change in response to cancer, inflammation and bacterial infection.

Her laboratory uses the techniques of organic synthesis and genetics as tools to study and manipulate complex cellular processes, focusing on how these biopolymers contribute to recognition and communication between cells.

 

 

Erskine Bowles

Erskine Bowles

Doctor of Laws

Faculty Sponsor: Joel L. Fleishman

A native North Carolinian, Erskine Bowles has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to public service. His successful business career led to his being named Director of the Small Business Administration and White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton.

From 2005 to 2010, Bowles served as President of the University of North Carolina system -- a position his predecessor Bill Friday called "the biggest job in the state of North Carolina."

After embarking on a "listening tour" of North Carolina, Bowles worked to keep tuition affordable and was a strong advocate for federal investment in research. His business acumen helped him lead the university system through the financial downturn.

 

Susan Hockfield

Susan Hockfield

Doctor of Humane Letters

Faculty Sponsor: Michael L. Platt

Susan Hockfield has been a distinguished scholar and researcher, led one of America's great universities, and is a prominent voice on national issues in higher education and science policy.

She spent two decades on the faculty of Yale University, where she focused her research on glioma, a deadly form of brain cancer. She began to assume university leadership roles, serving as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and then as Provost.

From 2004 to 2012, Susan Hockfield served as the 16th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- the first woman and the first life scientist in that position. Under her leadership, MIT launched the MIT Energy Initiative and encouraged collaboration between the life sciences and engineering and the physical sciences. As president, Dr. Hockfield fostered partnerships with industry, promoted global expansion, and supported opportunities for women in science and engineering.

 

Walter Isaacson

Walter Seff Isaacson

Doctor of Human Letters

Faculty Sponsor: Henry Petroski

Journalist, author, and public intellectual, Walter Isaacson grew up in New Orleans, where he knew from a young age he wanted to become a "storyteller." He joined TIME Magazine in 1978 and served as political correspondent, national editor, and editor of new media before becoming editor of the magazine in 1996. He has also been chairman and CEO of CNN.

Continuing his storytelling in a different genre, Isaacson has written acclaimed biographies of Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry Kissinger. His 2011 biography Steve Jobs, based on 40 interviews over two years with the co-founder of Apple Computer, was an international bestseller.

 

Delano Meriwether

Delano Meriwether

Doctor of Science

Faculty Sponsor: Gary Bennett

Delano Meriwether is best known as the head of the U.S. government's 1976 swine flu immunization program. At age 33, he was tapped to direct President Ford's ambitious $135 million plan to vaccinate 145 million Americans and became the public face of the campaign.

Dr. Meriwether's path to leadership in public health began when, after just three years at Michigan State University, he became the first African American to be accepted into Duke University School of Medicine. He graduated with honors in 1967. His first introduction to public service came when he was selected as a White House Fellow, which led him to begin work with the Public Health Department in 1973.

This distinguished physician has another extraordinary side to his life -- as a star athlete. He decided to try sprinting for the first time at the age of 27. Without any professional coaching, he won the 100-yard dash at the AAU Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1971 and again at the AAU Indoor Track and Field Championship in 1972.