Media Advisory

May 7, 2008
To:	Reporters, Editors, Assignment Desks
From:	Dennis O'Shea, dro@jhu.edu, and Amy Lunday, amylunday@jhu.edu, (443) 287-9960
Subject:	Johns Hopkins University commencement May 22 Bill Nye, The Science Guy; Nobel Prize-winning chemist Peter Agre; World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick; and former CIA chief A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard among speakers

William S. Nye, best known as "Bill Nye, The Science Guy," 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 22. He will also be awarded an honorary degree from Johns Hopkins.

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 22, university president William R. Brody, who is retiring from his post at the end of the year, will deliver his last commencement address at the university- wide ceremony. This ceremony will begin at 9:15 a.m. at Homewood Field. Honorary degrees will be awarded at that event to university and hospital trustee George Bunting Jr.; Baltimore-born jazz legend Ethel Ennis; Robert E. Fischell, an engineer and inventor retired from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; and Raymond A. "Chip" Mason, co-founder of the Baltimore-based asset management firm Legg Mason and former Johns Hopkins University board chair.

Noteworthy speakers at other Johns Hopkins commencement- related events — at various times and locations from Wednesday, May 21 through Friday, May 23 — include Nobel Laureate, professor and director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute Peter Agre, who will speak to graduates of the Bloomberg School of Public Health; Robert B. Zoellick, 11th president of the World Bank Group, who will speak to graduates of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies; A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, former executive director of the Central Intelligence Agency and former chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the investment bank Alex. Brown & Sons, who will speak at the graduate ceremony of the Carey Business School; and Peter Beilenson, Howard County health officer and former Baltimore City health commissioner, who will speak at the diploma award ceremony of the School of Medicine. The ceremonies mark the end of the university's 132nd 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 6,687, as follows: 1,538 bachelor degrees (including 1,061 seniors graduating from the schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering at the Homewood campus); 4,138 master's degrees, 547 doctoral degrees (102 of which are medical degrees); and 464 certificates and diplomas.

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

University-wide Commencement Ceremony
Thursday, May 22, 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, four 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 22, 1:45 p.m., Homewood Field, Homewood campus.
Speaker: Bill Nye, the Science Guy. During this ceremony, an anticipated 1,061 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. Nye was invited by the senior class. A bio of Nye is available at www.billnye.com.

Bloomberg School of Public Health Convocation Ceremony
Wednesday, May 21, 2 p.m., Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Cathedral and Preston streets.
Speaker: Peter Agre, who in 2003 shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery of aquaporins, channels that regulate and facilitate water molecule transport through cell membranes, a process essential to all living organisms. Agre is a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Bloomberg School and director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute. A bio of Agre is available online at malaria.jhsph.edu/people/director/Peter%20Agre.

G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering Graduate Ceremony
Wednesday, May 21, 7 p.m. Homewood Field, Homewood campus.
Speaker: Jeong Kim, university trustee and president of Bell Laboratories Alcatel-Lucent. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Kim earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer science as well as a master's degree in technical management from Johns Hopkins. He received the first Ph.D. in reliability engineering from the University of Maryland in 1991 and is a professor of practice there in the Clark School of Engineering. In 2005, Kim became the president of Bell Laboratories and was named one of the Top 10 Most Influential Asian Americans in Business by the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce. Bios of Kim are available online at http://tinyurl.com/4hrt2y and www.eng.umd.edu/facilities/facilities_kim-building- intro.html

The School of Medicine Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 22, 2:30 p.m., Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Cathedral and Preston Streets.
Speaker: Peter Beilenson, Howard County Health Officer. Before taking his current post, Beilenson spent 13 years as health commissioner of the city of Baltimore, where he expanded drug treatment programs, improved immunization compliance, instituted initiatives for lead poisoning and juvenile violence prevention and founded Maryland Health Care for All, a state-wide initiative for universal health coverage. Beilenson's bio is online at tinyurl.com/4l88lz

School of Nursing Diploma and Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 22, 2:30 p.m., Lyric Opera House, 140 West Mount Royal Ave.
Speaker: Leslie Mancuso, president and CEO of Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins affiliate that builds global and local partnerships to enhance the quality of health care services for women and families throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean. Mancuso joined Jhpiego in 2002 after 13 years at Project HOPE, a $110 million operation where she served as acting chief executive, chief operating officer and executive vice president for international operations. Mancuso's bio is online at www.jhpiego.org/media/bios/biolmancuso.htm.

Carey Business School Graduate Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 22, 2:30 p.m., Shriver Hall Auditorium, Homewood campus
Speaker: A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, former executive director, Central Intelligence Agency, and former chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the investment bank Alex. Brown & Sons. Krongard was appointed executive director of the CIA in March 2001 after joining the agency full-time in February 1998 after nearly 30 years as a businessman.

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 22, 3 p.m., Constitution Hall, 18th and D Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Speaker: Robert B. Zoellick, 11th president of the World Bank Group and chairman of its board of directors. Before assuming his current post in July 2007, Zoellick was international vice chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group, managing director, and chairman of Goldman Sachs' Board of International Advisors from 2006 to 2007. He was deputy secretary of the U.S. State Department from 2005 to 2006. From 2001 to January 2005, Zoellick served in the U.S. cabinet as the 13th U.S. trade representative, forging an activist approach to free trade at the global, regional and bilateral levels while securing support for open markets with Congress and a broad coalition of domestic constituencies. Zoellick's bio is online at tinyurl.com/5ch9ne.

Carey Business School Undergraduate Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 22, 7 p.m., Shriver Hall Auditorium, Homewood campus
Speaker: Anirban Basu, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Sage Policy Group, an economic and policy consulting firm in Baltimore. An instructor in the Department of Management in the Carey Business School, Basu is well known throughout the mid-Atlantic region for his consulting work on behalf of numerous developers, bankers, brokerage houses, energy suppliers, law firms, government agencies and non-profit organizations. Most recently, his focus has been on health economics, the economics of education and economic development. Basu's bio is online at www.sagepolicy.com/ShowPrincipal.aspx?id=1.

School of Education Undergraduate and Graduate Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 22, 7:30 p.m., Homewood Field, Homewood campus.
Speaker: Camilla Benbow, dean of education at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. A Johns Hopkins alumna, Benbow has become increasingly influential in national educational circles. In 2006, she was appointed by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings as vice chair of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. President Bush subsequently nominated her to serve on the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation. Benbow is also co-director of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, which was founded at Johns Hopkins in 1971. Benbow's bio is online at peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3441.xml.

The Peabody Conservatory Diploma Award Ceremony
Thursday, May 22, 7:30 p.m., Friedberg Hall, Peabody Institute, 1 E. Mount Vernon Place.
Speaker: Sir Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has advised national governments in Europe and Asia and works with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit corporations and some of the world's leading cultural organizations. A bio is online at www.sirkenrobinson.com.

Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Master's Diploma Award Ceremony
Friday, May 23, 10 a.m., Homewood Field, Homewood campus.
Speaker: Anne O. Krueger, economist and professor of international economics at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. She most recently held the International Monetary Fund's No. 2 leadership position as first deputy managing director from September 2001 to August 2006. As a professor in the SAIS international economics program, she teaches international trade, finance and economic development. Krueger's bio is online at tinyurl.com/4oyxf4.

Related Web Site
JHU Commencement Web Site