More than 2,500 graduates and 10,000 of their friends and family members gathered under a sweltering morning sun for Washington University’s 143rd Commencement May 21. A total of 2,589 degrees were conferred, along with six honorary degrees, and three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Thomas L. Friedman delivered the Commencement address.
John F. McDonnell, left, chairman of WUSTL’s board of trustees, and Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton look on as Thomas L. Friedman, the foreign affairs columnist at The New York Times, delivers his Commencement address, titled “Imagination”.
Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, right, presents Joe Edwards — the driving force behind the revitalization of The Loop in University City — an honorary doctor of laws degree. Looking on is the Commencement ceremony’s Grand Marshal, Edward N. Wilson, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and chair of the Commencement Committee.
Graduates and their families use the new statue of George Washington as a meeting point after Commencement. The statue is on the south side of the newly renovated Olin Library.
Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton (right) congratulates Theodore McMillian, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit who has written more than 1,200 opinions, some of which paved the way for landmark U.S. Supreme Court rulings. He received an honorary doctor of humanities degree.
David M. Kipnis, M.D., left, the Distinguished University Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at Washington University, receives an honorary doctor of science degree from Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.
Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, left, congratulates Lee M. Liberman, chairman emeritus of Laclede Gas Company and life trustee at Washington University, as he receives a doctor of philosophy in interdisciplinary studies from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. At 82, (he’ll be 83 in July) Liberman is the oldest person to receive an academic degree at this year’s graduation. (It is believed that he is the oldest person to receive a doctorate from the university.)
The Class of 2004 is the first to wear the university’s new green Commencement gowns. The gowns, which have black velvet trim and the university shield on both shoulders, were designed in honor of the university’s Sesquicentennial y a faculty member.
Maria Cristina Capelo throws up her mortarboard as she celebrates the close of the Commencement ceremony and the beginning of her life as a magna cum laude graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences. She was among more than 2,500 students receiving degrees today.
Honorary Grand Marshal Robert L. Virgil, D.B.A., right, visits with degree recipients Lee M. Liberman, left, and David M. Kipnis, M.D., before the Commencement ceremony begins. Virgil is a Washington University trustee, professor emeritus of accounting and former dean of the John M. Olin School of Business who has served the university with distinction for more than 40 years. His most recent assignment was chairing the university’s Sesquicentennial Commission, leading the efforts to celebrate the year-long 150th anniversary.