An international education philanthropist and the former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard will receive honorary degrees during University-wide Commencement on the National Mall in May.
GW graduates Harriet Mayor Fulbright and Adm.
will speak at the graduation ceremony with alumna and actress Kerry Washington.
Fulbright, who married alumnus and former Sen. J. William Fulbright, who founded the world-renowned grant program in his name that now operates in more than 150 countries. She also serves as president of the nonprofit J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center and the Harriet Fulbright College. She received her Master of Fine Arts from GW in 1975.
Allen received his Master of Public Administration from GW in 1986, and won the Colin Powell Public Service Award in 2010 for his efforts to clean up the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The two were chosen from a list of potential recipients – which included Academy-Award winning actress Meryl Streep and House Majority Leader, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-V.A., – that the Board of Trustees approved in October.
