Memo to Reporters: Highlights of upcoming graduation speakers
BERKELEY – Graduation ceremonies at University of California, Berkeley, run through Sunday, May 25. Below is a sampling of a few of the most prominent upcoming keynote speakers.
- Anne Lamott, author
Tomorrow, Thursday, May 22, 10 a.m., Greek Theatre
Interdisciplinary studies
The author of six novels as well as three best-selling books of non-fiction, Lamott has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and has taught at UC Davis, as well as at writing conferences across the country. Lamott's biweekly Salon Magazine online diary, "Word by Word," was voted The Best of the Web by Time magazine. Her latest novel is "Blue Shoe" (fall 2002, Riverhead). - Dana Bash, CNN White House correspondent
Thursday, May 22, 2 p.m., Greek Theatre
Political science
CNN's White House correspondent, Bash is responsible for covering the activities of the president and the administration, domestically and internationally. Named to this position in November 2002, she is based in the network's Washington, D.C., bureau. Bash is also a rotating panelist on CNN's "On the Story," the network's weekly current events program hosted by CNN's female anchors and correspondents. - Dean Kamen, inventor and entrepreneur
Saturday, May 24, 8:30 a.m., Greek Theatre
College of Engineering
Kamen is best known for inventing the Segway Human Transporter, but he holds 150 patents and has invented numerous devices (among them the first insulin pump for diabetics and a wheelchair that climbs stairs). His tireless role as a cheerleader for the sciences, his imagination and his rebellious knack for doing the impossible have turned him into a cult hero in the engineering world. - Dolores Huerta, co-founder of United Farm Workers
Saturday, May 24, 6 p.m., Greek Theatre
Chicano/Latino celebration
Co-founder and first vice president emeritus of United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW), Huerta has played a major role in the American civil rights movement. In 1955, she was a founding member of the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO), a grassroots organization that battled segregation and police brutality, led voter registration drives, pushed for improved public services and fought to enact new legislation. It was through her work with the CSO that she met César Chavez. They formed the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), predecessor to the UFW. - California State Treasurer Phil Angelides
Sunday, May 25, 9 a.m., Greek Theatre
Haas School of Business
As treasurer, Angelides has assumed a national leadership role in advancing corporate reform by using the power of California's investment portfolio in an attempt to restore integrity to the financial markets and to protect taxpayers, pensioners and families. Angelides is also an entrepreneur and former CEO of a real estate, investment and management firm. - Francesco Bandarin, director of UNESCO World Heritage Center
Sunday, May 25, 2 p.m., Greek Theatre
Environmental design
Since 2000, Bandarin has served as director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center and secretary of the World Heritage Committee. These organizations oversee the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage and count 170 countries as participants. He has led 40 international missions, including some in defense of sites in danger such as in Afghanistan, the Congo and Palestine. Bandarin received his Master of City Planning degree from UC Berkeley in 1977.