The University of Idaho will award two alumni of the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) with an honorary doctorate at the commencement ceremony May 13.
The recipients are former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne and Canadian broadcaster Marilyn Denis, who will also give the commencement address.
Kempthorne graduated from UI in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, while Denis graduated in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in radio and television.
An honorary doctorate is the highest award a university can give, though it doesn’t hold the same weight as a conventional doctorate, said Kevin Ketchie, assistant to UI President Chuck Staben.
Ketchie said the Faculty Senate commencement committee receives nominations from colleges across campus, then the committee makes a recommendation to the president, who makes the final decision.
Although preference is given to alumni, Ketchie said the university also honors those outside it, who have made significant contributions to the advancement of academic excellence and public education — the tenets on which UI was founded.
CLASS Director of Development Peter Mundt said CLASS was honored to have both of its candidates selected by Staben.
“Governor Kempthorne and Marilyn Denis are two people who took their education from the University of Idaho in their respective departments of politics and broadcasting, and laid the foundation for a career that was accelerated out of the university,” Mundt said. “Now, they’ve risen to that level of national and international prominence that very few people achieve.”