DuPont CEO to speak at 143rd commencement

Ellen Kullman, the DuPont Chair and CEO who was named one of the most powerful women in the country by both Forbes and Fortune magazines, will deliver the address to the Class of 2011 at the 143rd commencement ceremony on Monday, May 23.

The university expects to confer approximately 1,450 degrees to undergraduate and graduate students at the ceremony slated to be held in Goodman Stadium.

Lehigh will once again offer streaming video coverage of the entire commencement ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. To watch the event or learn more, please visit the commencement web page.

Kullman was a 20-year veteran of DuPont when she was named CEO in January 2009. She is the 19th executive to lead the company in its 208-year history, and the first woman to lead a major public U.S. chemical firm. She previously served as DuPont’s president and executive vice president and as a member of its office of the chief executive.

She will receive the Doctor of Engineering honorary degree.  Also receiving honorary degrees at the commencement ceremony will be:

• David Henry Hwang, the contemporary American playwright who wrote the highly acclaimed M. Butterfly. He will receive a Doctor of Letters honorary degree.
• Rear Admiral Charles R. Kubic ’72, Commander of the Third Naval Construction Brigade in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Commander of the Pacific Division’s Naval Facilities Engineering Command. He will receive a Doctor of Engineering honorary degree.
• Rosemary Radford Ruether, a pioneer Christian feminist theologian who studies modern feminist theology and liberation theology—particularly in Palestine and Latin America. She will receive a Doctor of Divinity honorary degree.

Ruether will also deliver the baccalaureate address in Packer Memorial Church at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 22. The baccalaureate service follows the doctoral degree hooding ceremony at 2 p.m. in Baker Hall in the Zoellner Arts Center.