The University of Evansville’s 157th Commencement ceremony is set for Saturday, May 9, 1:30 p.m., at the Ford Center in downtown Evansville. The event will feature the conferring of two honorary degrees.
Lee H. Hamilton will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. He currently is Professor of Practice in the School for Public and Environmental Affairs, Distinguished Scholar in the School of Global and International Studies, Co-Chair for International Engagement Advisory Board, and director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University.
From 1965 to 1999, Hamilton served Indiana in the US House, where he chaired the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran. Hamilton chaired the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, and was vice chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission). He was co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, and co-chairman of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future. He served as a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and co-chairman of the US Department of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, and the CIA External Advisory Board. Since retirement from Congress, Hamilton has been a member of the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council and the US Department of Homeland Security Task Force on Preventing the Entry of Weapons of Mass Effect on American Soil.
Hamilton graduated from DePauw University and Indiana School of Law and studied at Goethe University in Germany.
Jean C. Beckman will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Beckman began her career at UE over 35 years ago. From 1989 to 2003, she was chair of the Department of Chemistry, later dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and then interim vice president for academic affairs. Beckman’s excellence in the classroom earned her the Dean’s Teaching Award in 1997. Beckman’s service and dedication to the University earned her the Sydney and Sadelle Berger Award for Service in 2013.
She has exhibited great generosity in establishing the Beckman Endowed Research Fellowship Fund, which provides support for undergraduate research. Beckman serves the Evansville community as a volunteer and has leadership roles at Patchwork Central and First Presbyterian Church.
Beckman earned a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry, summa cum laude, from Colby College and a PhD in organic chemistry with minors in biochemistry and pharmacology from Indiana University. She is a member of the American Chemical Society, Indiana Academy of Science, Midwestern Association of Chemistry Teachers in Liberal Arts Colleges, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi.
UE will award 583 degrees to 586 graduating students during the ceremony. The event will also feature the Senior Keynote address, presentation of the University of Evansville Alumni Association’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year award, as well as the Outstanding Senior Service Awards.
For those who cannot attend Commencement in person, a video of the ceremony will stream live online at www.evansville.edu/commencement/live.cfm. The recorded video will be posted on this page the week after Commencement.
