TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Best-selling author Gay Talese will be the featured speaker for The University of Alabama’s spring commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 19 in Coleman Coliseum on the UA campus. Two University-wide commencement ceremonies will be held this year at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively, to award degrees.
Talese, speaking at both ceremonies and also receiving an honorary doctorate of humane letters, is largely credited with founding the “New Journalism” movement that emphasized creativity, a narrative style, dialogue and other features often reserved for fiction. He has authored the best selling books, “The Kingdom and the Power,” “Honor Thy Father,” and his most recent work, “Unto the Sons.”
At 9 a.m., students from the following schools will receive their degrees (bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialists, Ph.D. and Ed.D): Colleges of Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Human Environmental Sciences, and the School of Social Work.
At 1:30 p.m., students from the following schools will receive their degrees (bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D.): The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, and Colleges of Communication and Information Sciences, Education, and Nursing.
The UA School of Law will have its own ceremony at 5:30 p.m., also at Coleman Coliseum. The featured speaker will be U.S. District Judge Inge Prytz Johnson.
Talese earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UA in 1953. While at UA, Talese was sports editor for the Crimson White, UA’s student newspaper. He served as a reporter for The New York Times from 1953-1965. In 1966, he became a contributing editor for Esquire Magazine and also contributed articles to Reader’s Digest, New York Times Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post.
His awards and recognition include the 1970 Christopher Book Award for The Kingdom and the Power; the 1988 UA Society for the Fine Arts’ Alumni Award, the 1998 UA College of Communication Clarence Cason Writing Award; and he was named the first Kelly Writers House Fellow in 1999.
UA Law’s first recipient of the master of comparative law degree in 1970, Johnson received her juris doctor degree from Alabama as well in 1973. She went on to serve as the first woman elected circuit judge in the state of Alabama, presiding over the 31st Circuit in Colbert County for 20 years before becoming a U.S. District Judge in 1998.
Activities for this graduating class will begin Friday, May 18 with a reception for graduates and their families at the President’s Mansion from 4 to 6 p.m. The event is hosted by President and Mrs. Andrew Sorensen.
Since 1997, UA has held three graduation ceremonies annually, in May, August and December. With this graduating class, UA will have awarded more than 178,000 degrees since its founding in 1831 as the state’s first public university.
For more information on commencement, please contact Suzanne Dowling in media relations at 205/348-8324.
Contact
Suzanne Dowling, 205/348-8324