Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture Tony P. Hall will address 696 degree candidates and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at Marymount University’s Undergraduate Commencement on Sunday, May 17.
The event will begin at 10 a.m. at DAR Constitution Hall, 1776 D Street NW, Washington, D.C. A commencement ceremony for graduate degree recipients will follow at 2 p.m. In addition, the University will hold Recognition Day on Saturday, May 16, which will include a baccalaureate Mass, awards ceremony and reception.
Hall is a leading advocate for hunger relief programs and improving human rights conditions in the world. He retired from official diplomatic service in April 2006 and is now executive director emeritus of the Alliance to End Hunger, which engages diverse institutions in building the public and political will to end hunger at home and abroad.
Prior to diplomatic service, Hall represented the Third District of Ohio in the U.S. Congress for almost 24 years. During his tenure, he was chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger and the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Hunger. He founded the Congressional Friends of
Human Rights Monitors and authored legislation that supported food aid, child survival, basic education, primary health care, micro-enterprise and development assistance in the world’s poorest countries. He founded and chaired the Congressional Hunger Center, a non-governmental organization committed to ending hunger through training and educational programs for emerging leaders.
Hall witnessed the plight of the poor and hungry first-hand, visiting more than 100 countries – ranging from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. He was the first member of Congress to visit Ethiopia during the great famine of 1984-5. He has visited North Korea six times since 1995 and was one of the first Western officials to see the famine outside of the capital, Pyongyang. In 2000, he became the first member of Congress to investigate humanitarian conditions in Iraq. During his second week as Ambassador, he traveled to Zimbabwe and Malawi to see the food security crisis in southern Africa.
Hall is a three-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian and hunger-related work.
This year’s commencement exercises will recognize 696 bachelor’s degree candidates, 355 master’s degree candidates and 58 doctoral degree candidates.
The schedule for Recognition Day is as follows:
Saturday, May 16
- Baccalaureate Mass, 4 p.m., Rose Benté Lee Center, Verizon Sports Arena
- Awards Ceremony, 5:30 p.m., Rose Benté Lee Center, Verizon Sports Arena
- President’s Reception, following the awards ceremony, Gerard Phelan Dining Hall
