ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michael Bloomberg, internationally known business leader and statesman, will deliver the University of Michigan Spring Commencement address for the Ann Arbor campus April 30 at Michigan Stadium.
Bloomberg will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
He is among five individuals recommended for honorary degrees who will be considered by the Board of Regents at its meeting Thursday. The others are:
• Michael Brown, CEO and co-founder of City Year, a nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging young people in a year of national service, Doctor of Laws. His degree will be conferred at the UM-Dearborn ceremony at 2:30 p.m. May 1 at the Crisler Center.
• Michele Oka Doner, artist and U-M alumna known for her pioneering and multidisciplinary contributions to visual culture, Doctor of Arts.
• Mary-Claire King, world leader in cancer genetics and the use of genomics to address social injustice, Doctor of Science. King also is delivering the commencement address for the Rackham Graduate Ceremony, at 10 a.m. April 29 in Hill Auditorium.
• Beverly Daniel Tatum, Spelman College President Emerita, psychologist and U-M alumna, Doctor of Laws.
Michael Bloomberg
New York City mayor from 2002-13, Bloomberg exemplifies innovation and entrepreneurship in his public service, professional endeavors and philanthropy. He now serves the United Nations as its Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change.
Bloomberg revolutionized information technology in 1981 when he founded Bloomberg L.P. and unveiled the Bloomberg Terminal, which organizes and analyzes real-time financial and economic data. Today, Bloomberg L.P. has more than 16,000 employees in 192 locations worldwide, delivering business and financial information, news and insights to a global audience.
Born in Boston, Bloomberg grew up in nearby Medford, Massachusetts. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering (1964) from Johns Hopkins University, where he was class president, and a Master of Business Administration degree (1966) from Harvard Business School. Prior to launching Bloomberg L.P., he worked at the securities brokerage Salomon Brothers.
Bloomberg’s philanthropic commitment to the arts, education, the environment, government innovation and public health has grown along with his business.
He has donated more than $4.3 billion, including $100 million to help eradicate polio, $250 million to improve road safety, and $600 million to reduce global tobacco use. His tobacco control initiative has saved 25 million lives since its launch in 2007.
He has served on the boards of numerous charitable, cultural and educational institutions, including Johns Hopkins, where he chaired the board of the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
As New York’s mayor, he led the city back from the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, rebuilding Lower Manhattan and revitalizing long-neglected neighborhoods. He turned around the city’s public education system, raising high school graduation rates by more than 40 percent, while cutting crime by 32 percent and driving job growth to record highs. He created hundreds of acres of new parks, revitalized the waterfront, and championed public art.
He also enacted the city’s first smoking ban for all commercial establishments and ended the use of artificial trans fats in restaurants, policies that have since spread across the nation. During his terms as mayor, the average life expectancy of residents increased three years, two years more than the national average. He cut pollution and reduced the city’s carbon footprint by 19 percent.
As the U.N.’s special envoy, Bloomberg helps cities set and reach more ambitious climate goals. He also is president of the board of the C40 Climate Leadership Group, a network of megacities working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
He is chairman of the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. Bloomberg has received accolades including the Genesis Prize, and in 2014 Queen Elizabeth II named him an honorary knight. He also has received France’s top civilian honor, the Legion of Honor.
Source: University of Michigan; Photo credit: MotherJones.com