ALU founder, Fred Swaniker, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the 2017 Middlebury College commencement address on Sunday, May 28th. This is the second honorary doctorate degree which he received, having been granted his first one from the Faculty of Education at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in April of this year. Swaniker earned an MBA from Stanford University, and a BA from Macalester College.
“The relationship with Middlebury means a lot to me personally and to ALU as an institution,” said Swaniker, “Moving forward, the global partnership will significantly contribute to enriching the ALU and Middlebury communities. It is very meaningful that on this same day, the first study abroad student that came to our campus, Sena Voncujovi, is graduating from Middlebury as well! ”
With academicians from Middlebury visiting the Mauritius campus to teach courses to students as part of the visiting faculty programme, ALU is proud to present opportunities for its students with some of the world’s most recognised academic institutions.
Honorary Doctorates were also awarded to the American artist and recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, Alison Bechdel; robot ethics expert and MIT scientist Kate Darling; and acclaimed singer-songwriter Grace Potter. Presidential historian and Pulitzer-Prize winner, Jon Meacham delivered the commencement address.
(Image courtesy: Middlebury College)
