Each year Haverford College awards four honorary degrees to men and women who have distinguished themselves in letters, the sciences, or the arts. Many recipients are noted for their contributions to the overall betterment of humankind and/or Haverford College.
Each year Haverford College awards four honorary degrees to men and women who have distinguished themselves in letters, the sciences, or the arts. Many recipients are noted for their contributions to the overall betterment of humankind and/or Haverford College.
The Honorary Degree Recipients for 2007 are:
Michael Dombeck is a renowned environmentalist and conservationist. He served the nation for many years by managing federal lands and natural resources in the public interest, including assignments as Director of the Bureau of Land Management and as Chief of the US Forest Service. Dr. Dombeck is the recipient of the prestigious Audubon Medal and the Lady Bird Johnson Conservation Award. He has authored, co-authored, and edited over 200 scholarly and popular publications, including the book Watershed Restoration: Principles and Practices, and most recently the book From Conquest to Conservation: Our Public Lands Legacy. Dr. Dombeck now serves as Professor of Global Conservation at the University of WisconsinÂStevens Point and as a University of Wisconsin System Fellow.
Barbara Ehrenreich is a prominent writer, political activist, and commentator on American culture. She majored in physics at Reed College (1963) and received a PhD in cell biology from Rockefeller University (1968), but decided that writing and contemporary criticism was her true calling. She has published 13 books, including Nickel and Dimed, On (Not) Getting by in America, and the recent Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy. She also contributes to wide ranging publications, including Time, The New York Times, The Progressive, The Atlantic, The New Republic and many others.
Freeman Hrabowski is president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. Hrabowski was only 19 when he graduated from Hampton Institute with highest honors in mathematics, and then received his M.A. (mathematics) and Ph.D. (higher education administration/statistics) from the University of Illinois. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He has co-authored two books, Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds, focusing on high-achieving African American males and females in science. He has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. Dr. Hrabowski serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, as well as a variety of corporate and civic boards.
Ghebre Selassie Mehreteab is president of the NHP Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that has taken on the difficult mission of providing quality housing at rents that poor and middle-class families can afford. He is also devoting himself to the efforts to rebuild affordable housing for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and his courageous leadership in this effort was recently featured in a New York Times article. Mehreteab was born and raised in Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea, and came to the US to pursue his education. Gabe, as he is known to all, graduated from Haverford College in 1972 with a double major in political science and economics.
