More than 3,100 students will receive degrees May 22 (Sunday) at Notre Dame鈥檚 166th University Commencement Ceremony, which will be held at 9 a.m. in Notre Dame Stadium.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates will be the and recipient of an honorary degree. Sister Mary Scullion, R.S.M., and Joan McConnon, co-founders of Project H.O.M.E., an organization devoted to ending homelessness in Philadelphia, will jointly receive the , Notre Dame鈥檚 highest honor and the most prestigious award given to American Catholics.
, a biological sciences major from East Lansing, Mich., will deliver the valedictory address.
Degrees will be conferred on 1,960 undergraduates at the Sunday University Commencement Ceremony. On Saturday, an additional 527 students will receive master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees at the Graduate 91视频 Commencement Ceremony, along with 417 master鈥檚 degree students at the Mendoza College of Business Ceremony and 212 students at the Law 91视频 Ceremony. Although conferred on Saturday, fifteen master鈥檚 students in the 91视频 of Architecture will receive degrees at the 91视频 of Architecture ceremony on Sunday.
In addition to Gates, other are: Michael J. Brennan, professor emeritus of finance at UCLA and the London Business 91视频; Shirin Ebadi, human rights activist and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize; John W. Glynn, founder and president of Glynn Capital Management; Michael D. Griffin, physicist, aerospace engineer and former NASA administrator; Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach; Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tuscon, Ariz.; Huguette Labelle, chancellor of the University of Ottawa; Laurent Lafforgue, French mathematician and professor at the Institut des Hautes 脡tudes Scientifiques; Charles F. 鈥淐huck鈥� Lennon, associate vice president and executive director of the Notre Dame Alumni Association; John C. Mather, a co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for physics and a senior NASA astrophysicist; Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and chief executive officer of the Acumen Fund; and Mary Beth O鈥橞rien, a former president of the Ladies of Charity USA.
Other notable Commencement weekend events are:
鈥� Mendoza College of Business Graduate Commencement, Saturday, 10 a.m., Purcell Pavilion, Joyce Center
鈥� Graduate 91视频 Commencement, Saturday, 10 a.m., North Dome, Joyce Center
鈥� Notre Dame Law 91视频 Commencement, Saturday, 1:30 p.m., Hesburgh Library reflecting pool
鈥� ROTC commissioning ceremony, Saturday, 9 a.m., Leighton Concert Hall, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
鈥� Service send-off ceremony, Saturday, 1 p.m., Leighton Concert Hall, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
鈥� Commencement Mass, Saturday, 5 p.m., Purcell Pavilion, Joyce Center
A complete schedule of events is available on the .
A number of events will be on the Internet.