| Spring
Commencement Speakers Announced
Nearly
2,000 students will participate in American University’s 120th
annual commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 14. Washington Post
CEO Donald Graham, the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s artistic director
Michael Kahn, and former Federal Reserve Board chair Paul Volcker are
slated to deliver the commencement addresses at the various ceremonies.
All ceremonies will be held at the university’s Bender Arena. Graham
and Kahn will each receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, and
Volcker will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service.
 The
son of Washington Post publishers Philip and Katharine Graham, Donald
Graham will deliver the address for students at the School of Communication
(SOC) and School of International Service (SIS). Elected a director of
the Washington Post Company in 1974, he served in Vietnam and as a patrolman
on the Washington, D.C., police force before joining the Post as a reporter.
Graham served as president of the Post from May 1991 to September 1993.
He is a trustee of the Federal City Council in Washington, D.C., and president
of the District of Columbia College Access Program. The SOC and SIS commencement
ceremony will be held at 9 a.m.
 The
commencement address for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) will be
delivered by award-winning theatre director Michael
Kahn, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company. His productions
have included such Shakespeare classics as Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth,
and Much Ado About Nothing, as well as classics by Henrik Ibsen and others.
He has also had a long career as an acting teacher, with students including
William Hurt, Laura Linney, Harvey Keitel, Kevin Kline, Christopher Reeve,
and Robin Williams. He’ll deliver the CAS address at 1 p.m.
 School
of Public Affairs (SPA) and Kogod School of Business graduates will be
sent into the world with words of wisdom from former chair of the Federal
Reserve, Paul Volcker.
A familiar name throughout the 1980s, Volcker was appointed as chair of
the board of governors of the Federal Reserve by President Jimmy Carter
and reappointed by Ronald Reagan. He served from 1979 to 1987 and is credited
with helping to end inflation during his tenure. Volcker is currently
chair of International House and cochair of the Financial Services Volunteer
Corps. The SPA and Kogod commencement ceremony will
be held at 4:30 p.m
 AU’s
Washington College of Law will hold its graduation events one week later,
on Sunday, May 21 at 1 p.m. Associate judge of the District of Columbia
Court of Appeals Vanessa
Ruiz will deliver the commencement address and receive an Honorary
Doctorate of Laws. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Ruiz has worked for
a number of years as a lawyer before moving to the judiciary. She was
appointed to her current position in 1994. She mentors Latino law students
and has been named Hispanic National Bar Association Judge of the Year.
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