Bok, Updike to Get Degrees

Former Harvard President Derek C. Bok, violinist Isaac stern and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John H. Updike '54 will receive honorary degrees at Commencement today.

Other honorary degrees will go to:

.Commencement speaker Gro Harlem Bruntland, the prime minister of Norway

.Ford Professor of the Social Science emeritus Daniel Bell

.Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert M. Solow '47

.Art collector Dominique de Menil

.California Institute of Technology physics professor Edward Carroll Stone

.Biochemistry professor and RNA researcher Joan Argetsinger Steitz

.Chair of the teachers Insurance and Annuity Association Clifton R. Wharton Jr. '47

.Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Robert M. Adams.

The University has assembled a diverse assortment of luminaries for this honor. Their areas of accomplishment range from art to music to writing, from the natural sciences to the social sciences.

Harvard tradition dictates that a former president receives an honorary degree the year after he ends his term. Bok, now 300th Anniversary University Professor, spent 20 years in Massachusetts Hall. Last year, he headed off to become a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto.

John H. Updike '54

Updike, the author of 14 novels and many short stories, won the Pulitzer Prize for Rabbit is Rich in 1981 and Rabbit at Rest in 1990. His book The Witches of Eastwick was made into a motion picture.

"He is the leading American novelist, now, ofhis generation, said Professor of English andAmerican Literature Philip J. Fisher. "He's anatural choice for this, a wonderful choice."

A member of the Lampoon, Updike graduatedsumma cum laude from Harvard in 1954. Hewrote for the New Yorker from 1955 to 1957and published his first novel in 1959.

"In terms of describing bourgeois Americanlife, he is our Mark "Twain," Said Senior Lectureron English and American Literature and LanguageMichael C. Blumenthal.

"Rabbit is Rich is, I think, oneveryone's list of greatest American works," saidBluementhal, who teaches Updike's novelSelf-Consciousness in his course. "He'sboth a consummate prose stylist and a reallybroad-ranging thinker and critic...certainly hewill go down as the essential American novelist ofthis period."

Isaac Stern

Stern, born in 1920 in Kreminiecz, Russia, is"one of the greatest violinists of our century,"said Ditson Professor of Music Reinhold Brinkmann.

Stern studied at the San Francisco Conservatoryfrom 1930 to 1937, and made his orchestral debutwith the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in 1936.He first performed in Carnegie Hall in 1943.

"He is a great musician, one of the greatperformers," Brinkmann said. "He is also someonewho is deeply concerned about society--he savedCarnegie Hall from destruction."

In 1956, Stern became the first American toperform in the Soviet Union after World War II.The violinist has made over 100 records, receivednumerous Grammy awards, and is an originatingmember of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Daniel Bell

Daniel Bell, who recently retired as Fordprofessor of the social sciences, is best knownfor his scholarship and writings on the influenceof science and technology on society.

"Words like `post-industrial society' are wordsthat come form him," said Ezra F. Vogel, whosucceeded Bell as Ford professor.

Bell's books include The End of Ideologyand The Coming of the Post IndustrialSociety.

His colleagues praise the extraordinary breadthof his scholarship.

"The main thing I like about him is that he'sbeen thinking actively about society and thefuture and less concerned about the mechanics ofsociology," said William Alonso, Saltonsallprofessor of public policy.

Robert M. Solow '47

Solow, institute professor at MIT, won a NobelPrize in 1987 for his work on the impact oftechnology on economic growth.

"He is one of the greatest living economists,"said Assistant Professor of Economic Douglas W.Elmendorf.

Solow made a "pioneering contribution" oneconomic growth that still stands as essentialscholarship in the field, according to Elmendorf.

"As a teacher, he was a really crucial personin training a generation of economists who didtheir Ph.Ds at MIT," said Elmendorf, who also saidthat Solow is "a very good writer, which is notuniversal among economists."

Joan Argetsinger Steitz

Steitz, a professor of biochemistry at YaleMedical School, is known for her discovery ofsmall ribonuclear proteins--called SNURPS--thatare important in RNA splicing, said Professor ofBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Tom Maniatis.

Splicing removes the "junk" segments, calledintrons, which are noncoding sequences of RNA.

Steitz was the first to realize that patientswith lupus erythematosis, an autoimmune disease,produce antibodies to SNURPS, Maniatis said. Usingthese antibodies, she was able to isolate andcharacterize the function of SNURPS, whichrecognize the splicing sites of these introns.

Maniatis called Steitz a "major figure inmolecular biology." Steitz received two degreesfrom Harvard: a masters in 1967 and a Ph.D in1968.

Dominique de Menil

De Menil "has one of the greatest natural eyesof anyone in the art world," said J. Carter Brown,Director of the National Gallery of art inWashington, D.C.

Brown said De Menil is known for herversatility--her collection ranges from surrealismto African art.

"She understood that creativity does not belongin one race," he said.

De Menil built a museum for her own artcollection in Houston, Brown said. "The collectionis so interesting as a work of art," he said.

Boardman Professor of Fine arts John Shearmansaid he associates De Menil with Image of theBlack, an archive of photographs.

Edward Carroll Stone

Stone was a NASA staff scientist who was chiefscientist for the Voyager project since 1972. NASAsent two Voyager unmanned spacecraft into space.The vehicles have sent pictures form Uranus andNeptune and discovered several new moons in thesolar system.

"A major part of Voyager's success is duedirectly to the way Ed Stone has managed thescience program all these years," the AtlantaJournal-Constitution wrote in 1989. "He is anunusual, perhaps unique, blend of brilliantmultidisciplinary scientist and intuitivemanager."

Stone has taught physics at the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology since 1976, served aschair of the Division of Physics, Math andAstronomy and currently directs the CalTech jetPropulsion Laboratory.

Clifton R. Wharton Jr. '47

Wharton enrolled at Harvard at age 16, was thefirst Black member of WHRB and graduated cumlaude in 1947. An economist and expert oninternational affairs, Wharton began his tenure asthe first Black president of Michigan stateUniversity in 1969 and became Chancellor of theState University of New York in 1978.

He is currently Chief Executive Officer of theTeachers Insurance Annuity Association and CollegeRetirement Equity Fund, the largest privatepension system in the nation.

Robert M. Adams.

Adams, an anthropologist and educator, servedas provost of the University of Chicago. Hisscholarship focuses on early state formation inthe ancient Near East and the New World. Born in1926, Adams' work includes field studies on thehistory of irrigation and urban settlement inIraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran and reconnaissance andexcavation missions of ancient Mayan settlementsin Mexico in the late 1950s.

Adams earned a PhB in 1947, an M.A. in 1952,and a Ph.D in 1956, all form the University ofChicago.

He has taught anthropology at numerousuniversities, including the University of Chicagoand Johns Hopkins. He has also authored fourworks, including Land Behind Baghdad andThe Heartland of Cities. He now serves asSecretary of the Smithsonian Institution inWashington.

Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Norwegian primeminister, will also receive an honorary degree.(See story A-1.)

This story was written and reported bymembers of the Crimson staff.

"He is the leading American novelist, now, ofhis generation, said Professor of English andAmerican Literature Philip J. Fisher. "He's anatural choice for this, a wonderful choice."

A member of the Lampoon, Updike graduatedsumma cum laude from Harvard in 1954. Hewrote for the New Yorker from 1955 to 1957and published his first novel in 1959.

"In terms of describing bourgeois Americanlife, he is our Mark "Twain," Said Senior Lectureron English and American Literature and LanguageMichael C. Blumenthal.

"Rabbit is Rich is, I think, oneveryone's list of greatest American works," saidBluementhal, who teaches Updike's novelSelf-Consciousness in his course. "He'sboth a consummate prose stylist and a reallybroad-ranging thinker and critic...certainly hewill go down as the essential American novelist ofthis period."

Isaac Stern

Stern, born in 1920 in Kreminiecz, Russia, is"one of the greatest violinists of our century,"said Ditson Professor of Music Reinhold Brinkmann.

Stern studied at the San Francisco Conservatoryfrom 1930 to 1937, and made his orchestral debutwith the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in 1936.He first performed in Carnegie Hall in 1943.

"He is a great musician, one of the greatperformers," Brinkmann said. "He is also someonewho is deeply concerned about society--he savedCarnegie Hall from destruction."

In 1956, Stern became the first American toperform in the Soviet Union after World War II.The violinist has made over 100 records, receivednumerous Grammy awards, and is an originatingmember of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Daniel Bell

Daniel Bell, who recently retired as Fordprofessor of the social sciences, is best knownfor his scholarship and writings on the influenceof science and technology on society.

"Words like `post-industrial society' are wordsthat come form him," said Ezra F. Vogel, whosucceeded Bell as Ford professor.

Bell's books include The End of Ideologyand The Coming of the Post IndustrialSociety.

His colleagues praise the extraordinary breadthof his scholarship.

"The main thing I like about him is that he'sbeen thinking actively about society and thefuture and less concerned about the mechanics ofsociology," said William Alonso, Saltonsallprofessor of public policy.

Robert M. Solow '47

Solow, institute professor at MIT, won a NobelPrize in 1987 for his work on the impact oftechnology on economic growth.

"He is one of the greatest living economists,"said Assistant Professor of Economic Douglas W.Elmendorf.

Solow made a "pioneering contribution" oneconomic growth that still stands as essentialscholarship in the field, according to Elmendorf.

"As a teacher, he was a really crucial personin training a generation of economists who didtheir Ph.Ds at MIT," said Elmendorf, who also saidthat Solow is "a very good writer, which is notuniversal among economists."

Joan Argetsinger Steitz

Steitz, a professor of biochemistry at YaleMedical School, is known for her discovery ofsmall ribonuclear proteins--called SNURPS--thatare important in RNA splicing, said Professor ofBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Tom Maniatis.

Splicing removes the "junk" segments, calledintrons, which are noncoding sequences of RNA.

Steitz was the first to realize that patientswith lupus erythematosis, an autoimmune disease,produce antibodies to SNURPS, Maniatis said. Usingthese antibodies, she was able to isolate andcharacterize the function of SNURPS, whichrecognize the splicing sites of these introns.

Maniatis called Steitz a "major figure inmolecular biology." Steitz received two degreesfrom Harvard: a masters in 1967 and a Ph.D in1968.

Dominique de Menil

De Menil "has one of the greatest natural eyesof anyone in the art world," said J. Carter Brown,Director of the National Gallery of art inWashington, D.C.

Brown said De Menil is known for herversatility--her collection ranges from surrealismto African art.

"She understood that creativity does not belongin one race," he said.

De Menil built a museum for her own artcollection in Houston, Brown said. "The collectionis so interesting as a work of art," he said.

Boardman Professor of Fine arts John Shearmansaid he associates De Menil with Image of theBlack, an archive of photographs.

Edward Carroll Stone

Stone was a NASA staff scientist who was chiefscientist for the Voyager project since 1972. NASAsent two Voyager unmanned spacecraft into space.The vehicles have sent pictures form Uranus andNeptune and discovered several new moons in thesolar system.

"A major part of Voyager's success is duedirectly to the way Ed Stone has managed thescience program all these years," the AtlantaJournal-Constitution wrote in 1989. "He is anunusual, perhaps unique, blend of brilliantmultidisciplinary scientist and intuitivemanager."

Stone has taught physics at the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology since 1976, served aschair of the Division of Physics, Math andAstronomy and currently directs the CalTech jetPropulsion Laboratory.

Clifton R. Wharton Jr. '47

Wharton enrolled at Harvard at age 16, was thefirst Black member of WHRB and graduated cumlaude in 1947. An economist and expert oninternational affairs, Wharton began his tenure asthe first Black president of Michigan stateUniversity in 1969 and became Chancellor of theState University of New York in 1978.

He is currently Chief Executive Officer of theTeachers Insurance Annuity Association and CollegeRetirement Equity Fund, the largest privatepension system in the nation.

Robert M. Adams.

Adams, an anthropologist and educator, servedas provost of the University of Chicago. Hisscholarship focuses on early state formation inthe ancient Near East and the New World. Born in1926, Adams' work includes field studies on thehistory of irrigation and urban settlement inIraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran and reconnaissance andexcavation missions of ancient Mayan settlementsin Mexico in the late 1950s.

Adams earned a PhB in 1947, an M.A. in 1952,and a Ph.D in 1956, all form the University ofChicago.

He has taught anthropology at numerousuniversities, including the University of Chicagoand Johns Hopkins. He has also authored fourworks, including Land Behind Baghdad andThe Heartland of Cities. He now serves asSecretary of the Smithsonian Institution inWashington.

Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Norwegian primeminister, will also receive an honorary degree.(See story A-1.)

This story was written and reported bymembers of the Crimson staff.