Penn honors Class of 2009 with 253rd Commencement
On Monday, May 18, Penn held its 253rd Commencement in which roughly 6,000 students in the Class of 2009 proudly received their degrees.
For the 23rd consecutive year, the ceremony was held at the storied Franklin Field, in front of thousands of friends and family members, fellow students, staff, faculty and alumni.
Eric Schmidt, the chairman and chief executive officer of Google, delivered the Commencement Address at the University-wide ceremony. He also received an honorary doctor of science degree.
Additional honorary degree recipients included: Yvon Chouinard, founder and owner of California-based Patagonia Inc.; George Crumb, composer and Penn professor emeritus; Yvonne Mokgoro, a judge with the Constitutional Court of South Africa in Pretoria; Susan Solomon, a leader in atmospheric science; and Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing director of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate.
Chouinard received an honorary doctor of humane letters; Crumb, an honorary doctor of music; Solomon, an honorary doctor of science; and Mokgoro and Yunus, an honorary doctor of laws.
Keep track of Penn’s Commencement on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PennCommence. Penn's Commencement ceremony is available for viewing on the University of Pennsylvania YouTube channel.
Originally published on May 18, 2009
