Degrees of Success

International Women's Media Foundation will receive honorary doctorate

May 12, 2009

IWMF board member and CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, left, with 2008 Courage in Journalism Award winners Sevgul Uludag of Cyprus, Edith Lederer of the United States and Farida Nekzad of Afghanistan.

Colleges typically award honorary degrees to individuals to highlight their contributions to a specified field or to society. At Commencement on May 17, Dickinson College will take the unusual step of bestowing an honorary doctorate to an organization, the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF).

CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, who is a member of the IWMF board of directors, will accept an honorary doctorate in journalism on behalf of the organization and deliver the commencement address at 10 a.m. in front of Old West.

The IWMF, founded in 1990, includes more than 4,000 women and men in the news media in more than 130 countries. Foundation programs are designed to move women into key positions in the news media. The IWMF's projects, research and support help women in the media develop their talents and advance in the profession. Foundation programs have been held in nearly 30 countries and on the Internet, reaching women in the news media worldwide.

"It is an honor to be recognized for what has been a labor of love and a true collaboration among women whose professional lives have been dedicated to furthering the role of women journalists as leaders and as beacons of press freedom," said Liza Gross, IWMF interim executive director and former board co-chair. "We believe that by joining forces, our impact is greater than what it would be individually. It has been a privilege to work with our vibrant, growing international network of women leaders to create programs that change lives and honor the courage of women who risk their lives around the world to report the news. We look forward to continuing our mission through our existing programs as well as through future initiatives."

The IWMF's reach is wide-ranging and expanding. The organization is conducting research on the status of women in the media across the globe; results of the study will be published in 2010. Additionally, the IWMF has launched an initiative to enhance media coverage of agriculture, rural development and women in Mali, Uganda and Zambia. The project began with quantitative and qualitative research in 2008 on how the media cover these issues. The results of the study were released in February 2009 in a publication titled "Sowing the Seeds." In recent weeks, the IWMF has been calling for the release of American journalist Roxana Saberi, who was convicted by an Iranian court of spying for the U.S. and sentenced to eight years in prison. The IWMF also has a petition for the release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling, American reporters who have been detained in North Korea since March.

Dickinson President William G. Durden '71 said the IWMF's contributions to the informed dialogue of an engaged citizenry match the college's mission and core academic values.

"We are recognizing an organization whose dedication, bravery and commitment to the truth and its discovery we admire and wish to commend," Durden said. "The IWMF exhibits virtues that correspond strongly to the ambitions we have for our students and the larger community."

Amanpour's fellow board members on the IWMF include leaders in the international media: Eleanor Clift of Newsweek, Campbell Brown of CNN, Deborah Howell of The Washington Post, Judy Woodruff of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Akwe Amosu of the Open Society Institute and Ann Curry of NBC News.

Amanpour, based in London, has reported from war zones in Iraq, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia. She has secured exclusive interviews with world leaders and has received numerous accolades, including being named by Time magazine as the most influential foreign correspondent since Edward R. Murrow.

Other honorary degrees will be awarded to Marjorie Osterlund Rendell, a federal judge and Pennsylvania's first lady; John J. Curley, retired Gannett chairman, president and CEO and 1960 graduate of Dickinson College; and Julius Wesley Becton Jr., retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and former director of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA).

Judge Marjorie O. Rendell

Rendell, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the first lady of Pennsylvania, will receive an honorary doctorate in law and public service.

A cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Rendell received her doctorate from Villanova University School of Law in 1973. She joined the law firm of Duane, Morris & Heckscher, where she subsequently became the firm's second woman partner. During her 20-year career as a practicing attorney, she specialized in bankruptcy law and commercial litigation, served as a mediator for the United States District Court and was a frequent speaker at law-related seminars and panels.

Inducted as a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1994, Rendell was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1997. She is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, an inaugural member and master of the Villanova University School of Law J. Willard O'Brien Inn of Court, an elected member of the American Law Institute, a member of the American College of Bankruptcy, Federal Judges Association, the American Judicature Society and the National Association of Women Judges.

She became the 43rd first lady of Pennsylvania when her husband, Gov. Edward G. Rendell, took office in 2003. Her primary initiative as first lady involves imparting civic responsibility to Pennsylvania children through citizenship and civic learning.

John J. Curley

Curley, who will receive an honorary doctorate in journalism, joined Gannett Company, Inc., the company that owns USA Today, in 1969. Gannett is an international news and information company with a number of daily newspapers in the United States and Great Britain, television stations around the country and many Internet sites.

In 1982, he became the first editor of USA Today. He became president and chief operating officer of Gannett in 1984; CEO in 1986; and CEO, president and chairman in 1989. He retired from Gannett in 2001. His stewardship of Gannett brought the company to new heights of respect and financial success, but he may be best known to many in the profession as a "reporters' editor" who nurtured young journalists and encouraged community investigative and explanatory reporting.

After graduating from Dickinson, Curley worked for the Easton, Pa., Express-Times in the summer of 1960 and reported for service in the Army that fall. In January 1961, while in the Army, he began working nights at the Associated Press (AP) in New York. He remained with the AP through 1966 and earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1963.

As an undergraduate at Dickinson, he worked as a reporter and editor for the college's student newspaper, The Dickinsonian. At his college Commencement, Curley received one of the William F. Hufstader Senior Prizes for leadership, which recognizes the two students (one man and one woman) who have contributed the most to the good of the college.

Curley majored in political science at Dickinson, where he was an active campus leader. He continued to serve the college in multiple ways, including as a member of the Alumni Council, a participant in the Metzger-Conway program, which brings distinguished graduates back to Dickinson for a short residency, and as national chair of the Dickinson Fund. He became a member of the college's board of trustees in 1978 and served as its chair from 1998 to 2008. Curley also serves on the board of the John A. Hartford Foundation in New York.

Curley's honorary degree recognizes his many accomplishments in his profession and his outstanding record of service and leadership for his alma mater. The combination of achievement in the field of journalism and support of the college remain as defining characteristics of Curley from his undergraduate days to today.

Lt. Gen. Julius Wesley Becton Jr. (Ret.)

Becton, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, former FEMA director and former education administrator, will receive an honorary doctorate in public service.

Becton joined the Army Air Corps in July 1944 and graduated from the Infantry Officer Candidate School in 1945. During his Army career, he served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant general. Among his decorations were the Distinguished Service Medal, two Silver Stars, two Legion of Merit medals and two Purple Hearts. He retired from the U.S. Army in 1983 after nearly 40 years of service.

Becton continued to serve his country after retiring. From 1984 to '85, he served as the director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance in the United States Agency for International Development. He then served as the director of FEMA from 1985 to '89.

A native of Bryn Mawr, Pa., Becton graduated as a nontraditional student from Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College with a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1960. He went on to receive a master's degree in economics in 1966 from the University of Maryland. He also graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the Armed Forces Staff College and the National War College.

His many honors include being named several times by Ebony magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in America. He holds honorary doctoral degrees from Huston-Tillotson College in Texas, Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, Prairie View A&M University and The Citadel in South Carolina. In 2007, he received the George Catlett Marshall Medal, the highest award presented by the Association of the United States Army for being a "soldier, combat commander, administrator, educator, public servant, government leader and role model."