Huntsman will speak at graduation

Ambassador Jon Huntsman, Jr. will address the College of Arts and Sciences Class of 2002 at its individual school graduation ceremony on May 12.

While the entire Class of 2002 will hear journalist Jim Lehrer speak at Commencement, most of the individual schools have their own speakers for a smaller, separate ceremony.

A 1987 College alumni, Huntsman has spent much of his career in public service. He currently serves as deputy United States trade representative. He also served as a U.S. ambassador from 1992 to 1994, making him the youngest U.S. ambassador in the last century.

"It's a particularly appropriate time to have someone from the international branch of the federal government speak in view of the events of the past year," School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston said. "I look forward to a stimulating address."

Huntsman, who studied political science as an undergraduate at Penn, served under former President George Bush as deputy assistant secretary of commerce for East Asia and the Pacific in 1990 and 1991. During President Reagan's first term, Huntsman was a White House staff assistant.

In addition to his political work, Huntsman served as vice chairman of the board of Huntsman Corporation, a private chemical firm owned by Penn alum and donor Jon Huntsman Sr. The younger Huntsman has also served as president and chief executive officer of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, which oversees the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.

Today, he still serves Penn as a member of the University Board of Trustees and as chairman of the Huntsman Program for International Studies and Business at the Wharton School.

Previous College commencement speakers include Democratic Congressman Harold Ford Jr., NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell and former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell.

Graduating College senior Lauren Bialystok will join Huntsman in addressing the class.

Bialystok is a philosophy and German double major who has been on the Dean's List for four years. She received two awards from the German Department and was a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship this year.

"This is an honor that I was always striving for without knowing it," said Bialystok, who plans to attend the University of Toronto next year to pursue a Ph.D. in philosophy.

"It was exactly what I would have hoped for if I had known to hope for it. I hope that in my short five minutes on stage that I can say something that will stay with the audience."

Prior to spring break, Bialystok received an e-mail from her department notifying her that she had been nominated to speak at commencement. She was asked to write a five-minute speech and deliver it to the Dean's Advisory Board.

"I don't think of myself as the sole victor out of all the College students, because that's not how the process works," Bialystok said. "It's really not a democratic process. I think I got lucky."

Bialystok will be the first philosophy major in 30 years to speak at the College commencement. In high school, she was involved in public speaking -- and that will prepare her well for the ceremony, which will have an audience of approximately 12,000.

"I'm actually very fond of speaking in front of large audiences, which I know is a common phobia for many people," Bialystok said. "So this is quite up my alley. But I've certainly never spoken in front of an audience as large as Franklin Field."

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