EAST LANSING, Mich. — Berry Gordy, son of Detroit, great-grandson of slaves, and founder of a musical movement that provided a soundtrack for our nation at a time of great social and cultural change, will be the speaker at Michigan State University’s undergraduate convocation ceremony at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 5, at the Breslin Center.
Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, will receive an honorary doctor of humanities degree.
“Berry Gordy’s pioneering entrepreneurship in our state—and throughout the world—has had lasting impact,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “His creativity, work ethic, management savvy and development of artists have inspired and influenced so many others. Motown music, bridging racial and social divides, has brought unity and shared enjoyment to millions.”
Simon noted that Gordy’s Motown Records and the world’s perception of the City of Detroit as “Motown,” are intertwined in the nation’s consciousness. “He is a man who not only was in Detroit, but for Detroit and the total urban experience,” she said.
After starting Motown Records in 1957 with a borrowed $800 and a business model based on quality control learned in Detroit’s auto plants, Gordy’s rise to national prominence was swift. Soon, Motown Records became the most successful music business in the country.
From “Hitsville U.S.A.” on West Grand Boulevard, Gordy launched the careers of many artists who became household names—Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Lionel Ritchie, the Jackson Five, and many others. Over the years, Motown Records developed what is considered by many to be the most impressive roster of artists in the history of pop music. Many of the artists were recruited by Gordy from concentrated poverty neighborhoods in Detroit.
Among awards Gordy has received are the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award, Yale University’s Gordon Grand Fellow Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the Rainbow Coalition’s Man of the Millennium Award. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Convocation is the one central ceremony for all undergraduates who will be graduating this spring at MSU. Degrees are conferred at the individual college ceremonies.
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