Cardinal George to Address
Catholic University's Graduates

May 6, 1998

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ardinal Francis E. George, archbishop of Chicago and a member of the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America, will address the graduates at the university's 109th commencement to be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 16.

The ceremony will take place on the university's mall and the east steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, adjoining Catholic University's campus.

Cardinal George, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals in February, earned a master's degree in philosophy at Catholic University in 1965. He also is a member of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference.

Three honorary degrees will be bestowed. The recipients are:

• Chiu-Hsiong Huang, president of ALLCAN Investment Company in Taiwan and recipient of the university's Presidential Medal in 1994, will receive a Doctor of Laws degree. Huang also is on the board of trustees at Feng Chia University, Taiwan.
• The Rev. Ellwood E. Kieser, C.S.P., of Pacific Palisades, Calif., who has worked in the entertainment industry since 1960 as a priest producer, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. He was executive producer for 23 years of the Emmy-award winning religious television show "INSIGHT." Father Kieser also produced the 1984 ABC special "The Fourth Wise Man," and collaborated with ABC again in 1987 as executive producer of the movie "We Are the Children," filmed in Kenya. He recently has completed a film about Catholic social activist Dorothy Day.
• Tim Russert, moderator of "Meet the Press" and political analyst for NBC Nightly News and the Today show, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. Russert, originally from Buffalo, N.Y., formerly served as counselor to former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and as special counsel in the United States Senate. This degree will be granted at the Baccalaureate Mass 4 p.m., Friday, May 15, in the upper church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Some 1,600 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees will be awarded. More than 10,000 guests are expected to attend the colorful outdoor ceremony.

Catholic University is a one-of-a-kind academic center: the national university of the Catholic Church, the only one established by the U.S. bishops, and located in the nation's capital. Established in 1887, the university is private and coeducational with 10 schools: religious studies, philosophy, law, arts and sciences, engineering, social service, nursing, music, library and information science, and architecture and planning. Metropolitan College provides degree programs for nontraditional students.

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Revised: May 6, 1998

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