Degree recipients announced

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz revealed that an Academy-Award winning filmmaker, a decorated Army Colonel and the President of the Juilliard School are among the seven Honorary Degree Recipients for the 2010 graduation ceremony, exclusively to The Campus.

Members of the Honorary Degree Committee, which is comprised of members of the Board of Trustees, students and faculty members, selected the names from a pool of nominees recommended by the College community. They will receive their degrees at commencement on May 23 at 10 a.m. outside of Voter Hall. More than 5,000 family and friends are expected to attend the ceremony.

Commencement speakers Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn will also receive honorary degrees.

“This is an extraordinarily accomplished group of recipients who are remarkable not only for the broad impact they have had on their communities and the world, but also for the breadth of their collective accomplishments,” Susan Campbell, dean of Planning and Assessment, wrote in an e-mail. I also expect that Middlebury students will find them inspiring for the ways in which they have turned their respective passions and vision into compelling realities.”

The seven degree recipients come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Among the group is Academy-Award winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, who will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

His 2003 documentary, “The Fog of War,” which profiled former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, won Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards.

Morris’ other works include “Standard Operating Procedure,” “The Thin Blue Line,” “Gates of Heaven” and “Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control.” His films have won numerous other awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Morris has made many television commercials, including advertisements for Apple, Citibank, Intel, American Express and Nike. In 2007, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences inducted Morris into its ranks.

President of the Juilliard School Joseph W. Polisi will receive a Doctor of Arts degree. Before he became president of Juilliard in 1984, Polisi served as dean of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, executive officer of the Yale University School of Music and dean of faculty at the Manhattan School of Music.

His musical career includes both solo and chamber performances of bassoon music across the country. Polisi has recorded several sound recordings of contemporary American music and speaks frequently on arts issues. His scholarly work has appeared in professional journals.

Receiving a Doctor of Laws degree is Army Col. Mark Odom ’87, who serves as commander of the second Ranger Battalion and has fought in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

While on his second tour of duty in Iraq in 2007, Odom and his unit sought to stabilize the country through the formation of ties with Sunni tribes. He received the Purple Heart after a roadside bomb wounded him. Odom’s father was the controversial three-star general William Odom, who argued for the United States’ immediate withdrawal from Iraq in 2005.

Influential lawyer Beth Robinson will also receive a Doctor of Laws degree at the ceremony. Robinson served as co-council to the plaintiffs in Baker v. State of Vermont, which involved the rights of same-sex couples.

She co-founded the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force and her leadership culminated with passage of a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry. The Burlington Free Press named her Vermonter of the Year in 2009. She practices at Langrock Sperry and Wool.

Physician Jill Seaman ’74, who works to provide medical treatment for infectious diseases to Sudan, will receive a Doctor of Science degree. Seaman splits her time between Sudan and remote Alaska, where she provides medical care to the Yup’ik Eskimo communities.

In recent years, she has focused her efforts on fighting the spread of tuberculosis, malaria and hepatitis B by treating illiterate patients in areas with little or no infrastructure. In recognition of her efforts, she was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2009.