U. to award five honorary degrees next month

The University will award honorary degrees to five recipients at the 243rd Commencement on May 17, University President Judith Rodin announced yesterday in a press release. The recipients include former tennis star Billie Jean King, who won 20 Wimbledon Championships and 13 U.S. Open Championships and was ranked the No. 1 player in the world seven times between 1966 and 1974. Another recipient is Gerda Lerner, a scholar in women's history and a founding member of the National Organization for Women. She is joined by Earl Reece Stadtman, a prominent researcher at the National Institute of Health who is "recognized as a pioneer in the field of enzyme regulation," according to the University's press release. The list also includes Isabella Lugoski Karle, the head of the X-ray Diffraction Section in the Laboratory for the Structure of Matter at the Naval Research Laboratory. Karle, through her X-ray structure research, has established the experimental procedures used worldwide for molecular structure analysis using electron and X-ray differentiation. And the Commencement speaker, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. According to the press release, Rubin's portfolio "is without boundaries and his impact is felt around the world as he balances the economic and financial needs of a global economy." The University announced that Rubin would be the Commencement speaker last month. He and his four fellow degree recipients will appear at Franklin Field on May 17 in front of graduates from Penn's 12 undergraduate and graduate schools. The number of honorary degree recipients is slightly lower this year than in the past. Last year, the University bestowed degrees upon eight men and women -- including the speaker, former President Jimmy Carter; Federal Reserve Board Chairperson Alan Greenspan; author Maurice Sendak and opera singer Jessye Norman. University spokesperson Ken Wildes explained that there's "no magic number" and that ultimately the number of people depends on the results of the search committee. University Secretary Rose McManus, who works with the committee, was unavailable yesterday.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.