Already boasting an array of academic honors, University President Judith Rodin will add two more to the list when she receives honorary degrees from New York University and Brown University at their respective commencement ceremonies later this month. The degrees recognize Rodin for her accomplishments as Penn's president as well as her accomplishments in the field of psychology.
"I was very pleased and extremely honored," Rodin said.
Though the honorary degrees are not Rodin's first, she has a particular attachment to both institutions. She began her teaching career at NYU, and Brown is home to fellow female Ivy League President Ruth Simmons.
"I started my career at NYU -- I was on the faculty there for two years," Rodin said. "So it is especially meaningful to receive an honorary degree from an institution where you taught."
Rodin continued about Brown. "I spoke at Ruth's inauguration, and it's very pleasing then to receive an honorary degree from an institution that I have already made significant contact with and one that I regard very highly," Rodin said. "But they're both very important to me."
Like Penn, Brown and NYU undertake rigorous search processes to find candidates who appropriately embody the missions of the universities and who can serve as an example for graduates.
"We look for individuals who exemplify the characteristics that we hope that our graduates themselves will embrace as they go forward in their lives and who cover the span of disciplines in which NYU conducts research and does education," NYU spokesman John Beckman said. "Each year, nominations are solicited from across the campus and evaluated by students, faculty and staff through the University Senate, and those names are forwarded to the trustees."
NYU will grant four honorary degrees this year in addition to Rodin's doctor of Humane Letters degree. Other recipients include Time Warner Chairman and CEO Richard Parsons and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei.
Brown will honor nine total candidates at its commencement this year. When she receives her doctor of Laws degree, Rodin will accompany news journalist Jane Pauley, Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau and former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, among other noteworthy recipients.
A Brown University press release recognized that Rodin "has guided Penn through unprecedented growth and development," in addition to conducting scholarly work as a psychologist. "Her work on the relationship between psychological and biological processes in human health and behavior is renowned," the press release said.
"It is recognized that she is an outstanding scholar," said Brown professor Leo Depuydt, who leads the faculty contingent of the honorary degree search committee. In addition, he noted Rodin's outstanding accomplishments at Penn, quantified by the University's climb in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.
"Maybe when she comes over to Brown, she can give us a little advice as to what we should be doing," Depuydt said. "So that we can get it right."
"I think it's clear that her prominence in her field and the esteem in which she's held makes her what I would have thought was an obvious candidate for an honorary doctorate from NYU," Beckman said.
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