Brian W. Dickinson

Doctor of Humane Letters

When journalists are at their best, they educate us about our world. When they are at their very best, they reach deep within themselves and become our conscience. Now and then they hit us with an eloquent but simple message: Life is good. Stop whining and get on with it.

You have educated us for twenty years in the pages of the Providence Journal. Seven years ago, Lou Gehrig's disease began to disable almost everything about you but your ability to think and to see. Your courage and your indomitable spirit have kept you writing about the great and small issues of our time - from the value of family, music, poetry, and feeding the birds, to China, impeachment, partisan politics, Bosnia, and, most recently, Kosovo.

You once wrote that humans are said to be the only creatures with an ability to contemplate such things as a future and perhaps the concept of hope. You asked us to seize the moment and make it ours, to stay in the game, and - oh - to remember to look after the birds.

We salute you today with the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters not only for your role as teacher but, greater yet, for staying in the game. You have given hope to thousands of people, young and old, who have learned from your example to battle adversity and to continue loving all life has to offer.

Quia spem magnam dedisti multis, iuvenibus et senibus, qui te auctore usi res adversas fortiter ferunt et fructibus vitae omnibus delectantur, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Litteris Humanioribus Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi laetissime do.

[Because you have given great hope to many, both young and old, who using you as an example bravely bear adversity and enjoy all the fruits of life, by virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor in Humane Letters. In witness whereof, I give you this diploma most joyfully.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)


James Oliver Freedman

Doctor of Laws

You once wrote that you became a teacher in order to follow the Talmud's observation, "When you teach your son, you teach your son's son." As professor and dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and president of the University of Iowa and of Dartmouth College, you have dedicated your life to teaching countless young men and women, and therefore their children and their children's children. In the style of Emerson, your humane essays on public figures present their subjects as models of integrity, courage, and compassion. Yet there is no better model for these virtues than you yourself.

As an administrator, you united a divided academic community while maintaining your enthusiasm for building academic excellence. As a defender of liberal education, you offer inspirational guidance through your writings and speeches. As a bibliophile, you love books passionately -not from a desire simply to possess them, but out of reverence for literature. And as an individual, you have faced serious illness with dignity and candor, attributing your strength of purpose to the value of your own education.

You are, in sum, an academic leader committed fully to the life of the mind and the spirit. You have written that "the morality of a professor's example is perhaps the most powerful force in the teaching of values." In inviting you into the company of faculty, students, and alumni of Brown University, we welcome a most powerful instructor in the values of life.

Professor, decanus, praeses universitatum, dux academicus, vitae et animi et animae studiosissimus, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Legibus Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi collegialiter trado.

[Professor, dean, president of universities, academic leader, dedicated to the life of mind and spirit, by virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor of Laws. In witness whereof, I collegially give you this diploma.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)


John Herschel Glenn Jr.

Doctor of Laws

Few American men or women can be said to have served their countries as often and as momentously as you have. You have displayed excellence, courage, and honor for more than fifty-five years in a career that has spanned heaven and earth.

You have taken on the most dangerous tasks of all in testing the limits of human flight and imagination as a Marine pilot in World War II and Korea, a test pilot for Navy attack aircraft, an astronaut who twice braved space travel, and an esteemed United States Senator. Your legislative record includes ensuring the integrity of the federal government, protecting our nation's Great Lakes, supporting math and science education, and, of course, strengthening our Armed Forces and our Space Program. As your colleague Senator Robert Byrd put it so eloquently, "You have risked life and limb, both on the Earth's surface and in the vastness of space which encompasses it, for one thing, and one thing only - the United States of America."

With gratitude, respect, and awe, we in the Brown community - students, faculty and staff, and alumni - salute your unique role in our nation's history.

Bis astronauta, quater senator Ohioensis qui nuper super orbem terrarum iterum transvolasti, vir summae virtutis et patriae amantissimus, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Legibus Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi excelsissima laude do.

[Twice an astronaut, four times senator from Ohio, who recently flew over the earth a second time, a man of great accomplishment and most patriotic, by virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor of Laws. In witness whereof, I give you this diploma with the highest of praise.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)


John Hume

Doctor of Laws

For more than thirty years you have devoted your life to promoting civil rights, tolerance, and nonviolence in Northern Ireland, a land sadly renowned for discrimination, discord, and violence. Often at the risk of your own safety, you marched for peace and spoke out against the use of bullets and bombs to settle ancient and modern animosities. Your courage in the face of intimidation, your integrity in pursuit of political compromise, and your steadfast adherence to change by nonviolent means has set a lofty example for every true friend of peace around the world. From your first protest in the mid-1960s against the sectarian policies of the government, through the long and bloody strife that has claimed over 3,000 lives and scarred so many thousands, both physically and emotionally, you have never lost sight of your goal: to accommodate the differences between the two communities by peaceful means.

As co-founder and then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party of Northern Ireland and as a longstanding member of both the British and European parliaments, you have done more than any other living Irishman - north or south of the border - to educate your countrymen about the prohibitive cost and futility of the so-called armed struggle. Had you not extended the olive branch to Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein almost a decade ago, the present peace process, however problematic, would never have come this far. Your devotion to reconciliation between the combatants in a divided society and your efforts to promote power-sharing have been recognized by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. Now it is Brown University's turn to honor your faith in peace and your good works by bestowing on you the degree of Doctor of Laws.

Triginta annos auctor iurium civilium et quietis fautor in Hibernia septentrionali, praemio Nobel laureatus, integer vitae, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Legibus Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi fidelissime trado.

[Thirty years a promoter of civil rights and supporter of peace in Northern Ireland, awarded the Nobel prize, irreproachable in your life, by virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor of Laws. In witness whereof, I most faithfully give you this diploma.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)


Ruth L. Kirschstein

Doctor of Medical Science

You are a heroine of the first rank in American science. Your presence at the National Institutes of Health has been felt for four decades, first through your research on the safety of the polio, measles, and rubella vaccines, and currently as deputy director of the NIH. You have served with distinction as director of the National Institute of General Medical Science for two decades, having been the first woman to become director of any NIH institute. At the institute, you championed the importance of basic, untargeted biomedical research that is the wellspring of clinical advances. A champion of merit-based funding, you chaired a study that endorsed the value of the peer review system. By establishing Genbank, a nucleotide sequence database, you played a pivotal role in launching the human genome project, by which we will intimately understand our genetic make-up and how it malfunctions in disease.

Under your leadership, the institute became the NIH's major focal point for predoctoral and postdoctoral training grants to educate the next generation of scientists. With your advocacy, the Medical Scientist Training Program for our nation's best students in medicine and research has grown and prospered. You have fostered opportunities for minorities through the Minority Access to Research Careers and Minority Biomedical Research Support programs. You have been a leader in bringing national attention to women's health issues.

Your distinguished career has been recognized by numerous honors, including membership in the Institute of Medicine and in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. You entrusted the biomedical education of your son, Arnold Rabson, to Brown, and thus you are already a member of the Brown family. We reaffirm the high standards you set for excellence, honesty, and integrity, and we are pleased to recognize your achievements.

Heroina scientiae americanae, indagator morborum, administrator Institutionum Valetudinis Nationalium, Genbank auctor, mater brunoniana, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Medicinae Scientia Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi solemniter trado.

[Heroine of American science, investigator of diseases, administrator of the National Institutes of Health, founder of Genbank, mother of a Brown student, by virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor of Medicine. In witness whereof, I solemnly give you this diploma.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)


Queen Noor of Jordan

Doctor of Humane Letters

Daughter of America, Queen of Jordan, Light of Hussein, beacon of peace: You are known on every continent as a champion of equality, human rights, social justice, and humane kindness. In Amman, Paris, London, Cape Town, Washington, and beyond, your voice is heard on behalf of those who too often have been silenced or ignored.

As an advocate for the rights of women and children, a conserver of the delicate balance of our environment and the architectural heritage of your country, a healer of innocent victims of war and poverty, and a supporter of basic human rights for all, you have given Jordanians and the citizens of the world new hope. As wife and mother you have demonstrated through your own path the importance of family and love. As a human being who values and embodies dignity, respect, independence, and commitment, you have shown people everywhere the qualities of a leader for the new millennium. We join a chorus of admirers in saluting and honoring you and welcoming you into the company of faculty, students, and alumni of Brown University.

Filia Americae, Regina Iordanae, Lux regis Hussein, pacis pharus, iurium humanorum fautor et iustitiae, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Litteris Humanioribus Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi solemniter do.

[Daughter of America, Queen of Jordan, light of King Hussein, beacon of peace, supporter of human rights and justice, by virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor in Humane Letters. In witness whereof, I solemnly give you this diploma.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)


Romano Prodi

Doctor of Laws

One of the towering leaders of Europe today and one of the major architects of a continuing European union, you also embody the highest traditon of linking the world of the academy and the world of public service. Professor at Brown's sister institution in Italy, the University of Bologna, you came to the aid of the publicly-owned Institute for Industrial Reconstruction, Italy's largest Italian holding company, helping to turn it around as chair from 1983 to 1989, and again in 1993 and 1994. In 1996, you became prime minister of Italy, and over the next two years you not only helped bring Italy into the European Monetary Union through the successful reform of the Italian economy, but you also renewed public confidence in government in the aftermath of the scandals of the early 1990s.

We honor you today just as you are about to take on new responsibilities as the president of the European Commission, selected by the heads of government of the European Union nations to move the process of European unification ahead into the new millennium. Professor, author, bicyclist, public servant, and visionary, we honor you today as one of the world's greatest statemen.

Professor, scriptor, velocipedista, Italiae quondam primus minister, nunc praeses Commissionis Europeae, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Legibus Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi cum summa observantia do.

[Professor, author, bicyclist, former Prime Minister of Italy, now President of the European Commission, by virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor of Laws. In witness whereof, I give you this diploma with the greatest respect.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)


William J. Raspberry

Doctor of Humane Letters

Born and raised in the deep South, educated in the heartland, seasoned as an observer of the first order of the nation's capital, you have seen America. You speak for an America that can be; a place that seeks unity over separation, compassion over complacency, and justice over all else. Your voice rings true from Washington to San Francisco, from the Panhandle to the Great Lakes, sounding, at times, both alarm and joy.

Millions read your columns in their hometown newspapers daily, resonating to your stories of the routine and the profound. Throughout your writing run themes of family, community, responsibility, tolerance, and honor. Your readers have come to expect not a recitation of despair in the face of seemingly insurmountable problems, but, rather, thought-provoking potential solutions to those problems. Hope is your cause and your gift.

You have been honored with the distinguished awards of your profession, as Journalist of the Year during your earliest days as a reporter telling the world about the riots in Watts, to the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for excellence in commentary. Brown University proudly joins your chorus of admirers and champions, and welcomes you as a permanent member of our community.

Saepe honoratus, praecipue praemio Pulitzer, in actis diurnis scribis de America nova et meliore quae iustitiam iniustitiae praeferat, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Litteris Humanioribus Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi laetissime trado.

[Often honored, especially with the Pulitzer Prize, you write in newspapers about a new and better America that favors justice over injustice. By virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor of Humane Letters. In witness whereof, I give you this diploma most joyfully.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)


Steven Spielberg

Doctor of Humane Letters

You are widely recognized as one of the most entertaining, provocative, and prominent practitioners of the dominant art form of the twentieth century - the movies. Your films have engaged both fantasy and history, attracting immense global audiences and winning numerous awards. You made your first film at the age of twelve, and it has since been said that your work retains the most enviable characteristics of childhood: energy, enthusiasm, a searching inquisitiveness, and a sense of awe. And you have indeed reestablished the continuing magic of myth and adventure for our culture with such films as E. T., the Extraterrestrial and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

But you have also turned your mastery of film narrative toward the historical and emotional memories that are at the core of our era's political and social issues with films such as The Color Purple, Schindler's List, and Amistad. In the wake of Schindler's List, you established the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, charged with the task of recording firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors, supporting education and research about the Holocaust, and insuring the preservation of a historical memory of this critical period.

From the innovative cinematic technologies of Jurassic Park to the traumatic, yet humanistic, realism of Saving Private Ryan, your work has always epitomized the power of the cinematic image to move and provoke us. For your aesthetic and humanitarian contributions, Brown University salutes and honors you.

Creator picturarum quae moventur et movent motus animi omnium, inter quas nomino Tabulam Schindlerianam, Amistad, De Ryan Milite Privato Servando, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Litteris Humanioribus Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi solemniter trado.

[Creator of pictures that move and move the emotions of all, among which I mention Schindler's List, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, by virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor in Humane Letters. In witness whereof, I solemnly hand you this diploma.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)


Julia Vadala Taft

Doctor of Laws

A woman of compassion and great personal kindness, you have worked tirelessly during a thirty-year career to address extreme deprivation in humanitarian crises throughout the world. Your concern for the plight of refugees first took you to Southeast Asia in 1975, when you became director of the Interagency Task Force for Indochina Refugees, directing a resettlement program for more than 130,000 Indochinese affected by the Vietnam War. In the late 1980s, as director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance at the Agency for International Development, you spearheaded the U.S. government's responses to an array of overseas earthquakes, hurricanes, famines, and civil strife.

For four years, you were president of InterAction, a coalition of 156 U.S.-based private voluntary organizations working in international development and humanitarian relief around the world. During those challenging years, you skillfully managed to influence government policy through knowledge of the process, your own contacts, and a savvy use of the media. You also worked tirelessly to improve the effectiveness and impact of U.S. private voluntary organizations. Now, as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, you battle to make the humanitarian imperative prominent in U.S. policy. You represent this nation in the United Nations, advocating for those in greatest peril from Sierra Leone to Kosovo.

Whether in the public or the private sector, you have drawn attention to the claims of a larger humanity and helped to make the world a more compassionate and hospitable place for all its peoples.

Apud Gentes Unitas ut legata rei publicae nostrae, incolas in Sierra Leone, Kosovo, alibi adiuvans, Humanitatem semper benevolentissime foves, auctoritate mihi commissa te ad gradum in Legibus Doctoris admitto, omniaque jura atque privilegia ad hunc gradum pertinentia tibi concedo. In huius testimonium hoc diploma tibi magna voluptate do.

[As representative of the United States at the United Nations, you have always most benevolently fostered humanity by aiding the peoples of Sierra Leone, Kosovo, and elsewhere. By virtue of the authority vested in me, I admit you to the grade of Doctor of Laws. In witness whereof, I give you this diploma with great pleasure.]

May 31, 1999

(Return to news release 98-136)