Media Advisory

The director of the National Institutes of Health, Elias A. Zerhouni, will address seniors graduating from The Johns Hopkins University's schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering at their diploma ceremony at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, May 25.

The ceremony will take place at Homewood Field, the stadium on the northern end of the university's Homewood campus at 3400 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. There will be a press section for working print and broadcast reporters and photographers on the playing surface of Homewood Field, at stage right [audience left]. Identification is required; prior notification of intention to cover the ceremony is preferred. Limited press parking will be available; please notify us in advance if you need parking. See above for contact information.

Earlier on May 25, university president William R. Brody will speak at the university-wide commencement ceremony. This ceremony will begin at 9:15 a.m. at Homewood Field. Honorary degrees will be awarded at that event to Carl Taylor, professor emeritus at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the founding father of academic international public health; university trustee emeritus R. Champlin Sheridan, founder of The Sheridan Group, one of the nation's leading scientific and medical printers; and world-renowned organist Marie-Claire Alain.

Noteworthy speakers at other Johns Hopkins commencement- related events — at various times and locations from Wednesday, May 24 through Friday, May 26 — include Michael Griffin '71 MS '83, NASA administrator, who will speak to master's and doctoral graduates of the Whiting School of Engineering; Michael Bloomberg '64, mayor of New York, who will address School of Medicine graduates; Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who will speak to graduates of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies; Gilbert Kalish, pianist and educator, who will speak to graduates of the Peabody Conservatory; and Alice McDermott, novelist, winner of the National Book Award and Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars professor, who will speak to the master's degree graduates of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. The ceremonies mark the end of the university's 130th academic year. Details on the university's various ceremonies are listed below.

About the Graduating Class

The total number of earned degrees, certificates and diplomas awarded is expected to be about 6,192, as follows: 1,588 bachelor degrees (including 1,109 seniors graduating from the schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering at the Homewood campus); 3,747 master's degrees, 517 doctoral degrees (104 of which are medical degrees); and 340 certificates and diplomas.

About the Ceremonies

The university as a whole and its eight academic divisions will hold the following commencement events:

University-wide Commencement Ceremony
Thursday, May 25, 9:15 a.m. to approximately noon, Homewood Field, Homewood campus.
Speaker: William R. Brody, president, The Johns Hopkins University.
During this ceremony, all university degrees are conferred by the university president. The only graduates who receive their diplomas at this time, however, are doctoral students. The ceremony also recognizes new members of the Society of Scholars. At this time, three honorary degrees of doctor of humane letters also will be awarded. [See above for details on honorary degree recipients].

Arts and Sciences/Engineering Undergraduate Diploma Ceremony
Thursday, May 25, 1:45 p.m., Homewood Field, Homewood campus.
Speaker: Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health and former executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
During this ceremony, an anticipated 1,109 seniors from the schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering, who will officially have graduated when degrees were conferred in the morning ceremony, cross the stage to shake hands with the president. Afterwards, they receive their diplomas. Zerhouni was invited by the senior class. A bio of Zerhouni is available at www.nih.gov/about/director/directorbio.htm.

Bloomberg School of Public Health Convocation Ceremony
Wednesday, May 24, 2 p.m., Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Cathedral and Preston Streets.
Speaker: Paul E. Farmer, an attending physician in infectious diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and medical director of the Clinique Bon Sauveur in Haiti. He is also a founding director of Partners In Health, which provides direct health care services and undertakes research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty. A bio of Farmer is available online at www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/HRA/ drfarmer.html.

G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering Graduate Ceremony
Wednesday, May 24, 7 p.m. Homewood Field, Homewood campus.
Speaker: Michael Griffin '71 MS '83, NASA administrator and former head of the Space Department at the university's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. Griffin's bio is online at www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/griffin_bio.html.

The School of Medicine Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 25, 2:30 p.m., Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Cathedral and Preston Streets.
Speaker: Michael Bloomberg '64, mayor of New York and founder of Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg's bio is online at tinyurl.com/lglb5.

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 25, 3 p.m., Constitution Hall, 18th and D Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Speaker: Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. ElBaradei's bio is online at www.iaea.org/About/DGC/dgbio.html.

School of Nursing Diploma Award Ceremony
Bachelor's degree candidates: Thursday, May 25, 1 p.m.; master's and doctoral candidates: Thursday, May 25, 3:30 p.m. Both ceremonies will take place in Shriver Hall Auditorium, Homewood campus.
Speaker at both ceremonies: Martha N. Hill, dean of The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Hill's bio is online at www.son.jhmi.edu/aboutus/directory/faculty/ faculty_detail.asp?ID=518.

Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Master's Diploma Award Ceremony
Friday, May 26, 10 a.m., Homewood Field, Homewood campus.
Speaker: Alice McDermott, novelist, winner of the National Book Award, and Writing Seminars professor. McDermott's bio is online at advanced.jhu.edu/registration/keynote_speaker.cfm.

School of Professional Studies in Business and Education Undergraduate and Graduate Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 25, 7:30 p.m. Homewood Field, Homewood campus.
Speaker: Pete Petersen, associate dean of the Graduate Division of Business and Management, who is retiring after more than 25 years of service at Johns Hopkins.

The Peabody Conservatory Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 25, 8 p.m., Friedberg Hall, Peabody Institute, 1 E. Mount Vernon Place.
Speaker: Gilbert Kalish, pianist and educator. Kalish's bio is online at www.rfsuny.org/arts_honorees/Kalish.htm.