Observer Online, IN
March 16 2005

University selects ’05 grad speaker
By Eileen Duffy

The President of the United States won’t be speaking to Notre Dame’s
2005 graduates, but a man who has held three presidencies in his life
will.
The University announced Tuesday that Vartan Gregorian, president of
the Carnegie Corporation and former president of Brown University and
the New York Public Library, will be the principal speaker at its
160th commencement exercises on May 15.
Gregorian has held high-ranking positions in a wide variety of
fields, making him an ideal selection, University President Father
Edward Malloy said in a press release.
“In all his many roles in public life, Dr. Gregorian has displayed
extraordinary leadership,” Malloy said. “I know that his remarks will
be an ideal capstone for [our graduates’] educational experiences on
our campus.”
Gregorian has served at the helm of New York’s Carnegie Corporation
since 1997. The corporation, which was founded in 1911, seeks to
carry out founder Andrew Carnegie’s vision of philanthropy, which
Carnegie said should aim “to do real and permanent good in the
world.” Awarding grants in four areas (education, international peace
and security, international development and strengthening U.S.
democracy), the corporation expects its fiscal year 2004-2005 grants
to total over $80 million.
>From 1989 to 1997, Gregorian served as the president of Brown
University, where he taught freshman and senior history seminars and
a course on Alexis de Tocqueville. In addition, he led capital
campaigns that helped triple the endowment there.
Prior to that, Gregorian served for eight years as president of the
New York Public Library – no small task, considering that this system
has four research libraries and 83 circulating libraries. He is
credited with pulling the library out of financial crisis.
Gregorian was born to Armenian parents in Tabriz, Iran. After
receiving his elementary education there and his secondary education
in Lebanon, he enrolled at Stanford University in 1956. He graduated
with honors just two years later.
In 1964, he earned a doctorate in history and the humanities, also
from Stanford.
Gregorian taught European and Middle Eastern history for eight years
at San Francisco State College, the University of California at Los
Angeles and the University of Texas. He then joined the University of
Pennsylvania faculty. In 1972, he became the founding dean of the
Faculty of Arts and Sciences there; in 1972, he became the provost.
Senior Erin Mai said she is “excited and proud” of Notre Dame’s
decision to bring someone with a “different perspective.”
“This is a Catholic university, but it’s still important for people
to be exposed to different ideas and different religions,” she said.
“[Gregorian] seems to know a lot about Islam, and I think that could
bring a lot to his speech.”
Senior Galen Loughrey agreed, calling the University’s choice of
Gregorian a “great change” from the past commencement speakers.
“I would hope [Gregorian] would bring a unique perspective, given his
international experience, that might not be at Notre Dame,” he said.
Gregorian has received myriad accolades and grants during his career.
Currently serving as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Gregorian has received fellowships from the John Smith
Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the
Social Science Research Council and the American Philosophical
Society.
He received the National Ethnic Coalition of Organization’s Ellis
Island Medal of Honor in 1986, which is annually presented to
“Americans of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to
their own ethnic groups and to American society,” according to that
organization’s Web site.
He has also been honored by U.S. presidents. In 1998, President Bill
Clinton awarded Gregorian with the National Humanities Medal; last
year, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of
freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award.
Gregorian is the author of “Emergence of Modern Afghanistan: Politics
of Reform and Modernization, 1880-1946;” “Islam: A Mosaic, Not a
Monolith;” and his autobiography, “The Road to Home.”