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Press Releases | |
May 11, 2001
Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh Will Address the Class of 2001Lifestyle Expert Barbara Smith, NY State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, and Marine Scientist JoAnn Burkholder Also Receive Honorary Degrees at May 20 Commencement
Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081The Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Southampton College of Long Island University on Sunday, May 20 at 2:00 p.m.
The Dalai Lama describes the essence of Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings as a belief that achieving world peace requires a transformation within each individual. For his pivotal role in bringing reconciliation to his homeland, Martin Luther King nominated Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying "I know of no one more worthy ... than this gentle monk from Vietnam."
The 35th annual commencement takes place in an outdoor ceremony on the lawn in front of Chancellors Hall. University President Dr. David Steinberg will confer degrees upon 324 undergraduates and 50 graduate students. Valedictorian honors will go to Danielle Palmer, a Marine Biology major from Scotia, N.Y. She has achieved a 3.98 grade point average.
Also receiving honorary degrees will be lifestyle expert and author Barbara "B." Smith; N.Y. State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, Jr., and JoAnn Burkholder, Environmental Scientist and co-discoverer of the toxic marine microbe Pfiesteria piscicida.
Honorary Doctorate Recipients: Thich Nhat Hanh, influential Buddhist monk, poet, scholar and peace activist played an instrumental role in the negotiations which brought the Vietnamese war to an end. He gradually emerged as leader of a movement known as "Engaged Buddhism," which intertwines traditional meditative practices with nonviolent civil disobedience. When the Paris Peace Talks were created, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam asked him to set up and join the Buddhist Peace Delegation. Ironically, once the Peace Accords were signed in 1973 the new government of Vietnam refused him permission to return, and since then he has lived in exile in France. In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1982 Thich Nhat Hanh established Plum Village, a spiritual retreat center near Bordeaux, France. He has published more than 75 books of prose, prayers and poetry. He now travels the world teaching the art of living "mindfully" -- enjoying each step and breath and finding the peace available in each moment.
JoAnn Burkholder co-discovered the deadly microbe Pfiesteria piscicida - an organism that has killed over a billion fish. She and her colleagues traveled from the Chesapeake Bay to the Gulf of Mexico to investigate the toxic creature. Her research linked Pfiesteria to urban and agricultural pollution and found that it is harmful to humans, causing symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease. After attending Iowa State University and the University of Rhode Island, Burkholder earned her Ph.D. in botanical limnology from Michigan State University in 1986. Since then she has been a professor at North Carolina State University. Among her many awards are a Pew fellowship in Conservation and the Environment and the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award bestowed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Fred W. Thiele Jr. '76, is a New York State Assemblyman and former county legislator and Southampton Town supervisor. He has a deep concern for the everyday issues that affect his neighbors is what makes him a strong vote-getter. His legacy of long-term vision is demonstrated by his representation of working-class constituents, his ongoing fight for affordable housing and fairer gasoline prices in an upscale Hamptons district and the emphasis he puts on the future for the children. Thiele has helped preserve thousands of acres of land on Eastern Long Island with Pine Barrens legislation and a successful push for a two-percent real-estate tax that has already earmarked tens of millions of dollars to protect local open space. He earned his law degree from Albany Law School in 1979. He currently teaches political science courses at Southampton College and was named Distinguished Alumnus in 1992 by the College. He lives in Sag Harbor.
Barbara Smith, nationally-known restaurateur, expert on elegant living, TV personality, author, and business executive, began her career in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania modeling school. She arrived in New York City at the age of 19 to become one of the first African American cover models for a national fashion magazine. She became a partner in the Manhattan restaurant, B. Smith's, and now owns three B. Smith's restaurants located in New York City, Sag Harbor, and Washington, DC. She is the first African American woman elected a trustee of the Culinary Institute of America and hosts her own half-hour syndicated television series, "B. Smith With Style." She is the author of two books, Rituals & Celebrations and Entertaining & Cooking for Friends. Smith divides her time between New York City and Sag Harbor.
The Suffolk County Secondary Teacher of the Year Award this year goes to Timothy Rood, a History teacher at East Hampton High School, in East Hampton, N.Y.