AUSTIN, Texas—The 59th Annual Honors Day celebration at The University of Texas at Austin on April 14 will honor academic accomplishments of 1,200 Distinguished College Scholars and about 4,800 College Scholars during two ceremonies in the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Concert Hall.
James B. Steinberg, dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, will deliver the 2007 Honors Day Convocation address at both ceremonies.
The first ceremony at 10 a.m. on April 14 will honor Distinguished College Scholars and College Scholars from the School of Architecture, McCombs School of Business, College of Education, Jackson School of Geosciences, College of Liberal Arts and the School of Nursing. Lauren R. Koehler, a junior, Plan II Honors student and 2007 Harry S. Truman Scholar, will be the marshal for students, and Manasi Deshpande, a senior Plan II Honors/economics/mathematics student and 2006 Harry S. Truman Scholar, will provide remarks as the honor students’ representative.
The second ceremony at 2 p.m. on April 14 will honor Distinguished College Scholars and College Scholars from the College of Communication, College of Engineering, College of Fine Arts, College of Natural Sciences, College of Pharmacy and the School of Social Work. Divya R. Danda, a junior biochemistry major and 2006 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, will be the marshal for students, and Jessica E. Shay, a junior biology major and 2006 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, will provide remarks as the honor students’ representative.
The university’s Tower lighting will be configured on the evening of April 14 to represent academic achievement in recognition of students cited at the Honors Day program. The main body of the Tower will be illuminated in orange and the top portion crowned in white.
Introduced in 1948, Honors Day is the occasion when students who have achieved academic excellence are honored by administrative officials, academic deans and members of the faculty. It is an important prelude to Commencement. The Honors Day Convocation includes an academic procession, presentation of medallions to Distinguished College Scholars by academic deans, inspirational messages and celebratory music. Faculty guests join student honorees in the procession and are seated next to them at the convocation. The University of Texas at Austin Trombone Choir will present the music for the occasion and all participating students will receive orange and white honors cords provided by the University Co-op.
To be designated a College Scholar, a student must be registered as an undergraduate and have a grade-point average of at least 3.50. Distinguished College Scholars are undergraduates with an in-residence university grade-point average of at least 3.80. Scholars in both categories also must meet other criteria to qualify for participation in the Honors Day program.
Before joining the LBJ School in January 2006, Steinberg was the vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., where he supervised a wide-ranging research program on U.S. foreign policy. From December 1996 to August 2000, he was deputy national security adviser to President Bill Clinton. During that period he also served as the president’s personal representative to the 1998 and 1999 G-8 summits. Prior to becoming deputy national security adviser, he was chief of staff of the U.S. State Department and director of the State Department’s policy planning staff, and deputy assistant secretary for analysis in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
Steinberg, who received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Yale University Law School, also has been a senior analyst at RAND in Santa Monica, Calif., and a senior fellow for U.S. Strategic Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
For more information contact: Robert D. Meckel, Office of Public Affairs, 512-475-7847.
