4/14/2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State University candidates for degrees will hear from leaders who have made significant contributions to state government and the scientific community during MSU spring commencement ceremonies Friday, May 2.
"We are privileged to honor five leaders in government, science and business who have served their constituents and states with distinction," said MSU President Peter McPherson. "Their leadership abilities, contributions and service reflect the best traditions of a land-grant institution."
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm will address approximately 6,000 undergraduate students at the undergraduate convocation ceremony at 1 p.m. in the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. She will receive an honorary doctor of laws at the ceremony.
Jane Lubchenco, an environmental scientist and marine ecologist who has gained a national reputation for her work in biodiversity, global warming and sustainability, will address candidates for advanced degrees at the 7 p.m. ceremony, also at the Breslin Center. She will receive an honorary doctor of science at the ceremony.
Three individuals who have served in state government and in the business industry will receive honorary degrees at the commencement ceremonies.
Glenn S. Schafer, a native of St. Johns now living in California, will be recognized for his leadership abilities and service as an MSU alumnus at the 1 p.m. convocation ceremony. He will receive an honorary doctor of business.
Former state senators Harry Gast of Stevensville and George McManus Jr. of Traverse City will be recognized for their contributions to the state of Michigan and the state agriculture industry. Both will receive honorary doctors of agriculture at the 7 p.m. advanced degree ceremony.
Biographies of the speakers and other honorary degree recipients follow:
JENNIFER GRANHOLM
Jennifer Granholm, Michigan's 47th governor and the first female governor in the state's 166-year history, has a distinguished career in public service to the state.
Serving as the state's attorney general from 1998 to 2002, Granholm focused on protecting Michigan citizens and consumers. She established the state's first High Tech Crime Unit to prosecute Internet crimes.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Granholm led a multi-agency effort to ensure Michigan laws can effectively be used to fight terrorism at the state level and cracked down on gas stations accused of price gouging during the crisis.
The first person in her family to attend college, she earned a bachelor's degree in political science and French from the University of California-Berkeley, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and with highest honors. At Harvard Law School she served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and graduated with honors in 1987. Following graduation she clerked for U.S. Judge Damon Keith on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Following her clerkship, her long-time interests in civil rights issues guided her to a career in public service, first as a federal prosecutor in Detroit, where she maintained a 98 percent conviction rate, and then as Wayne County Counsel, heading the county's Law Department.
She was born in British Columbia, Canada, and at age 4 moved with her family to California. She and her husband, Daniel G. Mulhern, a Michigan native whom she met while in college, have three children: Kathryn, Cecelia and Jack.
JANE LUBCHENCO
Jane Lubchenco, the Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon State University, was the convener and lead author of the historical document, "The Sustainable Biosphere Initiative," which provided the general public and policy-makers with an understanding of the environmental challenges and opportunities for using natural resources in a sustainable manner in the 21st century.
The scientist co-founded and leads the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program that teaches outstanding environmental scientists to be more effective communicators of scientific information. She and her husband, Bruce Menge, head a $20 million, four-university consortium - Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) - that studies the dynamics of the marine ecosystem along the West Coast of the United States. She also is a Principal of COMPASS, the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea.
Lubchenco is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the America Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. She serves on the Pew Oceans Commission, an independent group of American leaders making recommendations to the country's leaders for managing oceans more responsibly.
She grew up in Colorado, received her doctorate and taught at Harvard University, then moved to Oregon State University. She and her husband have two grown sons.
HARRY GAST
Former state Sen. Harry Gast has led a long and distinguished career as a public servant to the people of Michigan and as owner of a 70-acre fruit and vegetable centennial farm near Stevensville.
He started his life in public service in 1946 with an appointment as Lincoln Township treasurer, then as township supervisor and as a member of the Lakeshore School Board.
His 57 years of public service, including 25 in Berrien County, eight in the state House of Representatives and 24 years in the state Senate, are marked by his advocacy for the agricultural producer as well as his efforts to develop balanced budgets throughout his tenure as chairperson of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
For more than 20 years his service and leadership on the Senate Appropriations Committee helped the state develop resources to make agriculture a more competitive and profitable industry.
Gast's appreciation of and commitment to the land are expressed in his sponsorship of legislation such as the Sand Dune Preservation Act, the Environmental Bonding Act and the Wildlife Conservation Act. He was in the forefront of sponsorship for legislation that created the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry, the Animal Agriculture Initiative at MSU and the establishment of the MSU Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center. He was also a strong supporter of Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs).
He is a member of numerous civic and community organizations, including the Lakeshore Lions Club and the Berrien County Farm Bureau. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Michigan Townships Association's Legislator of the Year Award in 1988. In 1986 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Michigan Agricultural Conference, the Michigan Frozen Food Processors Association and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. In 1993 the Michigan Association of Agriculture presented him with the Meritorious Service Award.
Gast and his wife, Jean, have three children. He graduated from St. Joseph Public High School and the MSU agricultural two-year short course, now known as the Institute of Agricultural Technology.
GEORGE McMANUS JR.
George McManus Jr., a fourth-generation Grand Traverse County cherry farmer from Traverse City, was elected to serve the people of Michigan's 37th State Senate district in1990 and, in 1994, was elected to serve the people of the 36th district, where he served through 2002.
He spent 25 years as a Grand Traverse County MSU Extension agent and director before being elected to the state Senate, where he chaired the Farming, Agribusiness and Food Systems Committee and was a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He served as chairperson of the Appropriation Subcommittees on agriculture and natural resources and was a member of the higher education, retirement and capital outlay subcommittees. He worked to pass farmland taxation reforms and to establish zero interest loans for farm operations beset by drought, and was the author of the Groundwater and Freshwater Protection Act.
McManus was a leader in efforts to establish both the Animal Industry Initiative at MSU, and the Plant Agriculture Initiative, now known as Project Greeen (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs). He was on the capital outlay committee for the construction of the new Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health.
Throughout his career he has focused on helping the agriculture industry improve marketing opportunities, address financial issues and foster development of leadership within the fruit industry. As county extension director, he worked with several cherry processors to establish the Cherry Central Cooperative, a federated marketing cooperative. He serves as chairperson of the board of Cherry Growers, Inc., the largest cherry processor in the United States.
McManus was president of the Rotary Club of Traverse City and secretary of the Rotary Charities of Traverse City. Current memberships include the Knights of Columbus, Farm Bureau of Northwest Michigan, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Elks Club and Munson Hospital Centurions. He was a trustee of Northwestern Michigan Community College for 20 years.
His awards and honors include the Distinguished Faculty Award from MSU in 1981, Outstanding Elected Official for Grand Traverse County in 1977, the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award from the Northwest Michigan Farm Bureau in 1980, and the Michigan Farm Bureau Silver Plow Award for 1998, 1999 and 2000.
He and his wife, Clara, have nine children. He attended rural country school through the seventh grade, and graduated from St. Francis High School in 1948. He earned his bachelor of science degree in 1952 and his master's of science degree in 1953 from MSU.
GLENN S. SCHAFER
Glenn S. Schafer, a native of St. Johns, is president of one of the largest life insurance companies in the nation, Pacific Life Insurance Co., based in Newport Beach, Calif. Schafer has demonstrated his leadership abilities in his business career as well as in his service as an MSU alumnus.
He has been a resource in providing insight and ideas about the future of management education in his role as a member of The Eli Broad College of Business Alumni Association Board of Directors, and as a member of the MSU Graduate School of Business board. He was a catalyst in developing the college's strategic plan, which helped focus the school's priorities and move the school forward over the past few years.
Schafer was instrumental in helping the college develop a new focus on executive education, which included the building of the James B. Henry Center for Executive Development. He served as a member of the recent Broad College Dean's Search Committee and is the co-chairperson of the President's Capital Campaign Cabinet.
He began his career with Peat Marwick Mitchell in 1971 and went to work at Alexander Hamilton Life Insurance in 1974, where he became senior vice president and chief financial officer. In 1982 he joined E.F. Hutton as senior vice president and chief financial officer. He joined Pacific Life in 1986, where he became president in 1995.
A major contributor to the university, Schafer also has been active as a board member of such charitable organizations as the American Cancer Society and the Orange County Court Appointed Special Services Advocates, an organization that protects the rights of disadvantaged children involved in legal dependency proceedings. He is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute, and is a member of numerous industry committees and groups.
He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in accounting from MSU in 1971. He earned a master's of business administration degree from the University of Detroit in 1976. He and his wife, Sue, have two grown sons.