Vol. 18, No. 33	May 27, 1999

Trustees pick eight for honorary degrees, Medals of Distinction

The University of Delaware Board of Trustees voted to bestow four honorary degrees and four Medals of Distinction at its semiannual meeting May 25 on the Newark campus.

Selected to receive honorary degrees were

• Robert D. Ballard, the marine scientist who achievements include discovery of the R.M.S. Titanic ;

• Louis Freeh, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and speaker at this year's Commencement on May 29;

• James Gilliam Sr., past president of the National Association of Nonprofit Housing Organizations and winner of the 1997 Liberty Bell Award; and

• Daisaku Ikeda, president of Soka Gakkai International, a global association of lay Buddhists, and recipient of the United Nations Peace Award.

• Chosen to receive Medals of Distinction were

• Victor F. Battaglia Sr., AS '55, an attorney and senior partner in the firm of Biggs & Battaglia, an leader in UD fundraising campaigns and an outspoken advocate in the areas of education, malpractice and prison reform;

• M. Jane Nuckols Garrett, AS '57, a senior editor for Alfred A. Knopf Publishing Co., who has edited six Pulitzer Prize-winning books in history;

• Helen Gouldner, former dean of the UD College of Arts and Science from 1974-90, when the college took important steps in the areas of general education requirements, international education and teacher education; and

• Chuck Stone, former UD professor of English and senior editor and columnist with the Philadelphia Daily News, who is now the Walter Spearman Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of North Carolina.

Medals of Distinction are presented in recognition of individuals who have made humanitarian, cultural, intellectual or scientific contributions to society, have achieved noteworthy success in their professions or have given significant service to the community, state or region.

-John Brennan