Board of Trustees approves Mitchem, Pepper as 2010 commencement speakers

In an email to faculty and staff this week, President Timothy Lannon, S.J., announced this year’s commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients for the Class of 2010.

According to Lannon’s email, Arnold Mitchem, Ph.D., President of the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE), will address graduate students during this year’s commencement ceremony. Mitchem will also be honored with a Doctor of Public Service degree.

John E. Pepper, Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Chairman of the Board of the Walt Disney Company, will address undergraduates and receive a Doctor of Commercial Science.

The announcement to faculty and staff comes after the Feb. 25 meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees. Both Mitchem and Pepper were vetted and recommended by the Advisory Committee on Honorary Degree Recipients and Commencement Speakers at St. Joe’s.

Mitchem graduated from the University of Southern Colorado in 1965 and received his Ph.D. in Foundations of Education at Marquette University in 1981. Mitchem is the first and only president of the COE, and he currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Marquette. Mitchem will arrive at Saint Joseph’s University in May having already received honorary doctorates from eight other universities, including St. Louis University, CUNY-Lehman College, DePaul University, and the University of Liverpool in London.

Pepper is a Pottsville, Pa., native and the former Chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble. He graduated from Yale University and served as vice president of Finance and Administration at Yale from 2004 until 2005. Throughout his career, Pepper has served on the Board of Trustees for Motorola, Inc., Xerox, Procter & Gamble, and the Boston Scientific Corporation. He has received honorary doctorate degrees from Xavier University, Mount St. Joseph College, and St. Petersburg University in Russia.