May 2006

Former President and First Lady
George and Barbara Bush to Keynote 2006 Commencement

Sumner Redstone, Frank Robinson, Dan Glickman to Receive Honorary Degrees

Former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush will deliver the keynote addresses at GW’s May 21 Commencement on the National Mall and receive honorary degrees for their decades of public service. Viacom and CBS Corp. Chairman Sumner Redstone, baseball legend and Washington Nationals Manager Frank Robinson and Motion Picture Association of America Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman also will receive honorary degrees during the weekend.

“The combination of the National Mall as our Commencement site and former President George Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush as our keynote speakers sets the stage for an extraordinary weekend for our graduates and their families,” said GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. “We are honored to have them address our 2006 graduating class, in addition to presenting honorary degrees to baseball hero Frank Robinson, business icon Sumner Redstone and GW alumnus Dan Glickman.”

Bush served as the nation’s 41st president from 1989 to 1993. Prior to becoming president, he was vice president to Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989. Bush, who became a decorated naval pilot during World War II, held numerous senior-level positions, including U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in China, and director of Central Intelligence. He also represented Texas’ seventh district in the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms.
Since leaving the White House, Bush has written two books, visited 56 foreign countries and most of the 50 states, and has helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for a variety of charitable organizations.

Bush is co-founder, with former President Bill Clinton, of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, which has raised and distributed more than $100 million to victims of hurricane disasters. This year, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Bush special envoy to Southeast Asia for earthquake relief.
Barbara Bush continues to serve others. Throughout her years in public life, she volunteered in and supported charitable and humanitarian causes. Today, she serves as AmeriCares ambassador-at-large and supports organizations including the Leukemia Society of America, Ronald McDonald Houses and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Her main cause is family literacy. In 1990, she helped develop the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy whose mission is to support the development of family literacy programs, break the intergenerational cycle
of illiteracy and establish literacy as a value in every American family.

Through visiting literacy programs across the country—in schools, housing projects, organizations and businesses—she witnesses firsthand the powerful impact reading has on self-esteem and family dynamics.

Mrs. Bush also authored C. Fred’s Story and the popular Millie’s Book, whose profits benefited the literacy cause. Most recently she wrote Barbara Bush: A Memoir, her best-selling autobiography emphasizing the importance of family, faith and friends.

As chairman of the board and chief executive officer of National Amusements Inc. and chairman of Viacom and CBS Corp., Sumner Redstone has developed one of the world’s largest entertainment and media companies. Redstone also devotes a large portion of his time and energy to civic and community affairs. He is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and currently serves as vice president, as well as a member of the executive committee, of the Will Rogers Memorial Fund. He is a member of the corporation of the Massachusetts General Hospital and is on the board of overseers of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He has served as chairman of the Jimmy Fund (Children’s Cancer Research Foundation) and was a member of the corporation of the New England Medical Center. He will receive his degree on May 21 at Commencement.

Frank Robinson’s achievements as a major league baseball player are legendary. He was Rookie of the Year in the National League in 1956 and Most Valuable Player in the National League in 1961 when he led the Cincinnati Reds to the NL Pennant. In 1966, he won the Triple Crown for highest batting average, most home runs and most runs-batted-in in the American League as he led Baltimore to its first World Series championship. He also was named the league’s Most Valuable Player that year, becoming the first man to ever hold that title in both leagues. Over the course of his 21-year playing career he slugged 586 home runs (placing him fifth on the all-time list at the time of his retirement behind only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays), was named to 12 All-Star teams and played in five World Series. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.

In 1975, Robinson became baseball’s first African American manager with the Cleveland Indians. He went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos. When that franchise was moved to the District
of Columbia in 2005, Robinson became the first field manager of the new Washington Nationals, a position he holds to this day. He will receive his degree on May 20 at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences School Celebration.

Dan Glickman, a GW law alumnus, is chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. He served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 until 2001, and in the U.S. House of Representatives for 18 years representing Kansas’ fourth congressional district. Glickman also served as senior adviser to the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, DC. He will receive his honorary degree at the Law School Diploma Ceremony on May 21.

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