Honorary Degree: Doctor of Humane Letters

Frequently, true courage is required to effect social change, particularly in the face of a society that would rather turn away than face an unpleasant reality.

Angela Y. Davis has demonstrated the courage to speak up, forcefully and without apology, against the inequities she sees in American society. For her courage, her activism, and her scholarship, we honor her today.

Angela Davis was born in Birmingham, Ala., in the heart of the Jim Crow South. Her college-educated parents were among the first to integrate a neighborhood so plagued with racial violence that it became known as "Dynamite Hill." She grew to political awareness as a student at Elizabeth Irwin High School in New York, which she attended through a program sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee.

After graduating with a degree in French language from Brandeis University, magna cum laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, she pursued a graduate degree in philosophy at the University of Frankfurt. In 1969, she earned a master's degree in philosophy from the University of California-San Diego.

In 1969, she received an appointment to the faculty of the University of California-Los Angeles. One might have thought that a highly successful, if conventional academic career awaited her. But she lost her appointment at UCLA that same year, following complaints about her political activism and membership in the Communist Party.

Ms. Davis' continuing public commitment to prisoners' rights began with her efforts to free the Soledad Brothers, which in turn led to her own arrest and imprisonment. In 1970, she was charged as an accomplice to murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. After a widely publicized trial, she was acquitted of all charges in 1972. Today, she remains an advocate of prison reform and a powerful critic of racial bias in the criminal justice system of this country.

She is now professor of history of consciousness and feminist studies at the University of California-Santa Cruz and holder of the University of California Presidential Chair in African American and Feminist Studies, an appointment reflecting her many scholarly accomplishments. Her research interests include feminism, African American studies, critical theory, popular music culture and social consciousness, and the philosophy of punishment.

She has lectured around the world and has written several books, including: Women, Race, and Class (Vintage Books, 1983); Angela Davis: An Autobiography (International Publishers, 1989); The Angela Y. Davis Reader (Blackwell Publishers, 1998); Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday (Vintage Books, 1999); and, most recently, Are Prisons Obsolete?(Seven Stories Press, 2003).

Angela Davis is a living witness to the historic struggles of the contemporary era. Grinnell College is proud to honor her today.

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Honorary Degree: Doctor of Laws

"Everyone has to punch some ticket in life that says they have made a difference."

John Brady Kiesling's words, quoted here, reflect his willingness to a make a deep personal sacrifice for the good of a larger ideal, and for his country.

On February 24, 2003, Mr. Kiesling resigned his position with the U.S. Foreign Service in protest of what he saw as the damage being done to U.S. interests and alliances by the Bush administration's foreign policy, particularly the build-up to war with Iraq. He gave up a successful 20-year career - he called it a "dream job" - for his principles. In doing so, he has inspired many of us and reminded us that having the courage of our convictions sometimes requires great personal sacrifice. For his courageous act, we honor him today.

Mr. Kiesling joined the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State in 1983. He brought with him a liberal arts education from Swarthmore College, where he earned a degree in Ancient Greek in 1979, graduating with distinction, Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds a master's degree in ancient history and Mediterranean archaeology from the University of California-Berkeley.

Mr. Kiesling's career carried him from his first posting at the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Morocco, the Balkans, Romania, India, Armenia, and finally to Greece, where he was political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Athens.

In 2003, Mr. Kiesling found he could no longer argue in favor of his country's foreign policy decisions. As he told Secretary of State Colin Powell in his letter of resignation, until that point he had always believed that by upholding the policies of his president, he was also upholding the interests of the American people and the world.

"I believe it no longer," he told Powell.

His resignation brought international attention to rising dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq. Michel Faber praised his letter of resignation, which was circulated worldwide, as "a masterpiece of dignity, eloquent reasoning, acute analysis, and, most of all, humanity." Mr. Kiesling's story was told widely in the press, including appearances on CNN International; "Now" with Bill Moyers on PBS; and BBC Newsnight. He was interviewed on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Fresh Air with Teri Gross," and his story appeared in the pages of The Nation. Bill Clinton sent him an admiring handwritten note.

Since his resignation, Mr. Kiesling has turned his energies to lecturing, writing, and teaching. His book, Diplomacy Lessons: Realism for an Unloved Superpower, provides insights on how and why U.S. foreign policy has strayed so far from our nation's core values.

Grinnell College is proud to honor John Brady Kiesling for his efforts to remind us of what the United States should be - as he himself writes, "a beacon of liberty, security, and justice for the planet."

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Honorary Degree: Doctor of Science

Global climate change has the potential to affect nearly every aspect of life on Earth. Margaret Tolbert's research is helping us understand the chemistry of our atmosphere - knowledge that is critically important to the future of the planet.

As an undergraduate, she found an encouraging environment for her scientific aptitudes at Grinnell. After graduating from Grinnell College with a degree in chemistry, she earned an M.S. degree from the University of California-Berkeley and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, both in chemistry.

Ms. Tolbert's research at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where she is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has focused on understanding the chemistry and climate of planetary atmospheres, including past and present Earth. Her widely-praised research on the chemical reactions in the clouds above the Earth's poles - reactions that have been linked to stratospheric ozone destruction - provides important progress our understanding of global warming.

Working in her lab at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Ms. Tolbert conducts atmospheric research with undergraduate and graduate students - providing many opportunities for mentoring young scientists.

Ms. Tolbert's research group has also studied the properties of clouds on other planetary bodies, including Mars and Titan, a moon of Saturn. Using data gathered on Titan, she was able to model conditions on early Earth. Her team found that hazy skies could have provided a substantial amount of organic material useful for emerging life on our planet.

In addition to directing a large research group making significant contributions to our understanding of atmospheric science, she has regularly taught a highly regarded class in environmental chemistry for non-science majors at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Ms. Tolbert's pursuit of achievement in research and her passion for teaching have brought her many accolades, including election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2004, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and NASA Group Achievement Awards in 2001 and 2003. This spring, she was the recipient of the 2007 Hazel Barnes Prize at the University of Colorado-Boulder. The Barnes Prize is the highest faculty recognition for teaching and research given by the university.

Margaret Tolbert's dedication to teaching, coupled with her important research, will play a leading role in understanding and dealing with global climate change. For this work, Grinnell College is proud to honor her today.

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Doctor of Humane Letters

What does it mean to be a Christian? How should issues of religion influence society, the family, issues of poverty and wealth, and in particular, the lives and roles of women?

Through her work as a scholar, Susan Ashbrook Harvey has helped us understand ancient Christianity, and what it has to teach us today.

She came from a family where religion was very much integrated into the routines of daily living. Her father, an uncle, and both grandfathers were all Baptist ministers. The Christianity she grew up with was a belief that reached out into the larger world - inspiring her to join her family as they marched in picket lines for civil rights, and protested against war and injustice. Her family's religion required a deep engagement with the moral issues of the world.

Susan Ashbrook Harvey earned a degree in classics from Grinnell College in 1975. Having won a Marshall Scholarship, she pursued graduate study at the Centre for Byzantine Studies at the University of Birmingham, England. There she earned a master of letters degree, followed by a Ph.D., specializing in early Syriac Christianity - a distinctive community within Eastern Christianity.

Ms. Harvey's career as a scholar and teacher has included work as a faculty member at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and the University of Rochester, prior to accepting her current position as professor of religious studies at Brown University. Her work focuses on the social aspects of Christianity, particularly issues affecting women. She points out the great variety of roles women played in the ancient church, including the many women saints emerging from all walks of life. She believes that the vocations of women active in the church today should also be recognized and celebrated.

Ms. Harvey's work has brought her many honors, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center. In 2005, she received the Barrett Hazeltine Award for Teaching Excellence. She has served as president of the North American Patristic Society, and as a member of the governing board of several important scholarly organizations. She helped found and continues to organize the North American Syriac Symposium.

At Brown University, Ms. Harvey has served in many important roles, including director of ancient studies and chair of the Committee on the Status of Women. She co-founded the Brown Seminar on Culture and Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean.

Ms. Harvey has published widely on issues of women in ancient Christianity, monasticism, the cult of saints, and early Christian hymnography. Her most recent book, Scenting Salvation: Ancient Christianity and the Olfactory Imagination, examines the role of sensory experience in early Christianity.

Grinnell College is pleased to honor Susan Ashbrook Harvey for her dedicated scholarship, her prowess as a teacher, and her continuing engagement with the moral issues of the world.

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