Smithsonian Institution secretary G. Wayne Clough will speak at Oglethorpe University’s commencement ceremonies, the school has announced.
Clough, former president of Georgia Tech, also will receive an honorary degree from Oglethorpe. Atlanta volunteer and Oglethorpe trustee Belle Turner Lynch also will receive an honorary degree and will speak during the May 8 commencement.
Clough is the 12th secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex. Before his appointment to the Smithsonian, he served for 14 years as Georgia Tech’s president.
Lynch, who graduated from Oglethorpe in 1961, was elected to the Oglethorpe board of trustees in 1983 and became chairman of the trustees in 2005.
Oglethorpe’s commencement ceremonies are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. May 8, the school said. Ceremonies will be held on the school’s academic quadrangle, located at 4484 Peachtree Road, N.E. If it rains, the ceremonies will move to the Dorough Field House on campus.
Oglethorpe says its previous honorary degree recipients have included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Woodrow Wilson, Sen. Johnny Isakson, Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young.