A List
5/5/03

ST. LAWRENCE COMMENCEMENT MAY 18

CANTON - St. Lawrence University's Commencement ceremony will 
be held on Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m. on Creasy Commencement 
Commons (Owen D. Young Library quadrangle). In the event of bad 
weather, the ceremony will be held in Appleton Arena.
	Three people receiving honorary degrees will offer remarks:
	- Clarkson University President Denny Brown, who is 
retiring from that post at the end of the academic year. Brown, 
Clarkson president since 1995, began his career in academia 
teaching inorganic and physical chemistry and conducting research 
in bioinorganic chemistry. Under his leadership, Clarkson 
finalized the Vision of a Clarkson Education, as well as a new 
master plan, and completed the consolidation of the School of 
Engineering on the Hill campus. A number of new programs were 
initiated during Brown's presidency, including an honors program 
and a graduate program in physical therapy; the new Bertrand H. 
Snell Hall for the Schools of Business and Liberal Arts, along 
with three centers, The Center for Excellence in Communication, 
The Shipley Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship, and The 
Center for Global Competitiveness; an outdoor lodge; a fitness 
center; and residence hall renovations. Brown earned his bachelor's 
degree at Whitman College and the Ph.D. from the University of 
Illinois. He has been a fellow of W.K. Kellogg Foundation and 
fellow of the Alexander VonHumboldt Stiftung. In addition, Brown 
serves on the board of the National Commission for Cooperative 
Education.
	- Sharada Nayak, managing trustee and director of the 
Educational Resource  Centre Foundation in Delhi, India, and 
coordinator of the Ford Foundation Campus Diversity Initiative 
in India. A former executive director of the United States 
Information Agency in India, Nayak has held responsibility for 
running study tours and assisting hundreds of American scholars 
over her 35-year career. In her current position, she has been 
the Ford Foundation's primary contact for the India aspect of 
their international program. Nayak has also served as the 
principal contact in India for students participating in 
St. Lawrence University's program of study there. 
	- James Madison University Professor of English Ralph 
Alan Cohen, founder and executive director of Shenandoah 
Shakespeare Express. A 1967 Dartmouth graduate,  Cohen has 
dedicated his scholarship to the works of Shakespeare, and was 
instrumental in a project to erect a reproduction of the 
playwright's winter theatre site in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. 
After earning the Ph.D. at Duke University, he began his teaching 
career at James Madison, where he also founded a program of 
study in London. Cohen founded the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express 
(SSE) in 1988; the company has participated in an annual 
residency at St. Lawrence for many years.
	Also at Commencement, Joseph M. Liotta, director of the 
Norwood Village Green Concert Series, will receive the North 
Country Citation. The 30-year series makes all types of music 
available in an open-air setting each summer. A public school 
music teacher from 1961 until his retirement in 1994, Liotta is 
also a performer with the acclaimed Norwood Fire Department Band, 
and has performed with the group in two Inaugural parades, at 
the White House and at the 1984 Winter Olympics. St. Lawrence 
annually awards the North Country Citation to individuals from 
the region who, through their professional and volunteer 
endeavors, have improved the quality of life in the North Country. 

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