NEW YORK—John Edward Sexton, a Fordham alumnus and president of New York University (NYU), will deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary degree at Fordham University’s 160th Commencement on Saturday, May 21, at 10 a.m. on the Rose Hill campus.
A three-time Fordham alumnus, Sexton’s ascension to the presidency of one of the largest private universities in the world has been guided by the tenets of his Jesuit education. At NYU, he has applied one of those tenets, communitas, a Jesuit-inspired ideal that sees professors as part of a community of teachers and learners, and a model he believes fits his vision for New York University.
Sexton received a B.A. in history in 1963, an M.A. in comparative religion in 1965 and a Ph.D. in the history of American religion in 1978, all from Fordham. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1979, and later clerked for several prominent judges, including U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. He joined the faculty at NYU in 1981 and was later named the Warren E. Burger Chair in Constitutional Law. After a 14-year tenure as dean of NYU School of Law, he was named president of NYU in 2002.
TIME: 10 A.M. (ACADEMIC PROCESSION BEGINS)
DATE: SATURDAY, MAY 21
PLACE: EDWARDS PARADE, ROSE HILL CAMPUS
441 E. FORDHAM ROAD, BRONX, N.Y.
Honorary degrees will also be awarded to the Hon. Guido Calabresi, United States Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit; Paul B. Guenther, chairman of the New York City Philharmonic, a Fordham alumnus and former chair of the Fordham University Board of Trustees; Martin Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago Divinity School and the author of more than 50 books on American religious history; and Theresa Mall Mullarkey, a philanthropist and advocate for higher education who serves as the chancellor of the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University.
The following three schools will have featured speakers at their diploma ceremonies:
Graduate School of Business Administration
Speaker: William R. Chess (GBA ’74), chief operating officer and chief financial officer, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Date: Saturday, May 21
Place: Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
New York, N.Y.
School of Law
Speaker: Hon. Guido Calabresi, United States Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Date: Sunday, May 22
Time: 11 a.m.
Place: The Theater at Madison Square Garden
4 Penn Plaza
New York, N.Y.
Graduate School of Social Service
Speaker: James R. Dumpson, Ph.D., dean emeritus, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service
Date: Monday, May 23
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
New York, N.Y.
