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Hugh Calkins '45, recently retired senior fellow of Harvard's seven-man governing Corporation, is expected to be among 10 honorary degree recipients at the University's 335th Commencement exercises Thursday.
Calkins will be joined by Itzhak Perlman, an internationally acclaimed violinist; Paul H. Nitze '28, a chief U.S. arms negotiator; Lord Alexander Rupert Carrington, the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and Benno C. Schmidt Jr., the next president of Yale University.
The Calkins doctorate follows Harvard's tradition of honoring prominent members of the Corporation after their retirement. Calkins, who retired from Harvard's top governing body last spring after 17 years of service, is a Cleveland lawyer at the firm of Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue and is best known for his work on tax law for the American Bar Association.
Aside from Bok, Calkins was the most active and outspoken member of the Corporation during his tenure. He helped forward the Harvard-Radcliffe joiner and played a role in overhauling Harvard's administration in the early 1970s. Calkins spearheaded reforms in Harvard's investment policy, creating Harvard's "intensive dialogue" strategy, designed to improve the South African operations of companies in which Harvard invests.
The Boston-born Calkins, who attended both the College and the Law School before moving West, gained localfame when used the local media and made personalappearences in 1969 and 1970 to mitigate theanti-administration, anti-war sentiment thatmarred the final year of the administration ofPresident Nathan M. Pusey '28.
Identities Secret
The Crimson reported Tuesday that Bok will alsobestow Harvard's highest honor on Perlman, Nitze,Carrington and Schmidt.
Harvard traditionally keeps the identities ofthe honorands a secret until Commencement day,shortly before President Derek C. Bok reads thecitations to an audience of tens of thousands inTercentenary Theater. The University and thehonorands decline to comment on the awards inadvance.
The honorands generally include leaders inpolitics, science, the arts and letters along withloyal sons of Harvard. They are chosen by acommittee appointed by the Harvard Corporation,Harvard's primary governing body, based in part onnominations offered from throughout theUniversity.
The main speaker at Commencement this year,Lord Carrington, 66, the NATO secretary general,has served as Britain's high commissioner ofAustralia, first lord of the admiralty, secretaryof defense, secretary of energy, and chairman ofthe conservative party. He resigned from asforeign secretary after the Falkland Islandsincident.
The Israeli-born Perlman, 40, came to theUnited States in 1958 and attained internationalprominence as a musician by the time he was 18.Perlman, who was stricken by polio at age five,also serves as an active spokesman for thehandicapped.
Nitze, who has had a major influence on U.S.national security policy in a variety of positionssince before the Cold War, II, served until 1982as President Reagan's chief arms negotiator onintermediate range missiles in Europe. He nowadvises the president and Secretary of StateGeorge P. Shultz on arms control issues.
Schmidt, currently the dean of the Columbia LawSchool, will succeed A. Bartlett Giamatti aspresident of Yale next month. He is regarded as anauthority on the history of the Supreme Court thefreedom of the press. He has moderated round-tablediscussions of freedom of the press and otherlegal issues for the Public Braodcasting System.
Arthur S. Rublin contributed to thisreport.
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