Press Releases

April 19, 2000
Billy Joel Will Address the Class of 2000 at Southampton College

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Artist Chuck Close, Woods Hole Scientist Robert Gagosian and Historian Fred Hoxie Also Receive Honorary Degrees at May 21 Commencement

Southampton, NY - Billy Joel, a Long Island cultural icon and one of the top selling singer/songwriters of all time, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary Doctorate of Music from Southampton College of Long Island University on Sunday, May 21 at 2 p.m.

"Billy Joel has used his musical gifts to support environmental and social causes, from the plight of Long Island baymen to teenage suicide prevention, " said Tim Bishop, provost of Southampton College. "His support for marine ecology issues in particular is in synch with the College's renowned Marine and Environmental programs. As a native Long Islander who has achieved extraordinary success, he will have a lot to say to our graduates."

The 34th annual commencement takes place in an outdoor ceremony in front of Southampton Hall, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and Shinnecock Bay. University President Dr. David Steinberg will confer degrees upon 317 undergraduates and 34 graduate students. Valedictorian honors will go to Mary Beth Rew, a Marine Science major from Cortland, N.Y., who has a perfect 4.0 grade point average. The graduating class also includes a Fulbright Scholarship winner, John Richert, who will study great white sharks in Baja, Mexico.

Also receiving honorary degrees will be artist Chuck Close, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Director Robert Gagosian, and Frederick Hoxie, professor of Native American history.

Honorary Doctorate Recipients:

Billy Joel's immensely popular songs emerged from a youth spent in the streets and clubs of Hicksville and, later, from his love of nature and commitment to environmental causes. He discovered classical music at the age of four and joined his first band, "The Echoes," at 14. His 17 albums have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and have earned numerous awards. In 1992, Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and last year, Joel was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Ray Charles. In 1990 he won the Grammy Living Legend Award, after being awarded five Grammy Awards, in the 1970s and 80s. He is a master observer, and his songs, like "Big Shot" and "Captain Jack," chronicle the people and culture of Long Island. The 1973 album "Piano Man" sold a million copies and became a classic, but it was his 1977 album "The Stranger" that turned Joel into a superstar. From 1977 until 1985, "The Stranger"(with hit singles "Only the Good Die Young" and "Just the Way You Are") was the biggest selling album in Columbia Record's history. His 1989 song "The DownEaster Alexa" told of the plight of Eastern Long Island baymen, and while he lived in the Hamptons he championed local environmental issues. His new album, 2000 Years The Millenium Concert, is scheduled for release May 9.

Chuck Close has been redefining the fine art of portraiture for the last 40 years largely through developing and refining his painting techniques. "The object of this exercise is not just to make a picture but to lay bare what a picture is made of," said the artist of his work. His style is to create giant paintings of the faces of his fellow artists and friends that bring us into intimate contact with his subjects. He is now also producing self-portraits using daguerrotypes, an early photographic process, that were exhibited in April at the Pace/McGill Gallery. His work has been the subject of more than 100 solo exhibitions including shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1998 his work was the subject of a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. He lives in New York City and Bridgehampton, N.Y.

Dr. Robert B. Gagosian is director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the country's leading independent marine research and educational organization, in Woods Hole, Mass. He earned this key leadership role pursuing a lifetime of research as a marine geochemist, exploring ocean processes and developing new techniques for tracing the movement of large masses of water within the oceans. He has participated in 14 oceanographic research cruises, including seven as Chief Scientist, and he is author or co-author of more than 80 scientific papers. His contributions to national and international symposiums and conferences have helped formulate public policies that foster an appreciation of the crucial role oceans play in human life.

Dr. Frederick E. Hoxie is one of the nation's foremost scholars on Native Americans, and has served as a consultant to both Indian tribes and government agencies. An esteemed professor of American History, he holds one of 10 Swanlund Endowed Chairs recognizing distinguished scholarship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was vice president for research at the Newberry Library, one of the country's most prestigious institutions of historical research. His book, "Parading Through History: The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805-1935" (1995) was a History Book Club selection. He edited "The Encyclopedia of North American Indians" (1996) and the five-volume "Cambridge Studies in North American Indian History."

Suffolk County Secondary Teacher of the Year this year is awarded to William Hennessy a History teacher for 26 years at the William Floyd High School, in Mastic Beach, N.Y.

Established by Long Island University in 1963, Southampton College has produced 34 Fulbright Scholars in the last 25 years, many from its nationally-recognized marine and environmental science programs. This small campus in the heart of the world-famous Hamptons is known for its writing and arts programs taught by many of the area's distinguished authors and artists, its programs in gerontology, its SEAmester aboard a traditional sailing ship, and its Friend World Program of global education for social change. Southampton is the location of WPBX 88.3 FM, flagship of the Long Island Public Radio Network.