Campus Life

USU to Honor Three with Honorary Degrees at Spring 2006 Commencement

C. Peter Magrath, Lorenzo (Ren) Hoopes and Manon Caine Russell will receive honorary degrees from Utah State University at the Spring 2006 Commencement Ceremony May 6. Magrath, former president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges is slated as the commencement speaker. Read about the degree recipients below.

 
C. Peter Magrath
 
Peter Magrath has dedicated his professional life to the betterment of the many state and land-grant universities across the country. As immediate past-president of the nation’s oldest higher education association, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, from 1992 through 2005, he represented 215 public research universities on issues of importance to the higher education community. Land-grant universities enroll more than 3.2 million students, award one-third of all bachelor’s and master’s degrees and grant 60 percent of the doctorates earned in the United States. During his tenure with NASULGC, he promoted an agenda of change and renewal for public higher education, particularly stressing the recognition and expansion of public universities’ engagement with their localities, states and the nation. Magrath was president of three universities, the University of Missouri, the University of Minnesota and the State University of New York at Binghamton. He has a broad perspective on higher education issues, including a long history of leadership in international education activities. The author of numerous books, monographs and articles on American constitutional law and history, higher education and international affairs, Magrath has been active on many national higher education commissions, task forces and committees. He has served on the Commission on the Future of the National Science Foundation and on the board of directors of the Salzburg Seminar. Magrath organized the Kellogg Commission of the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities that promoted an agenda of change and renewal in higher education. A political scientist with a bachelor’s from the University of New Hampshire and a doctorate from Cornell University, Magrath currently serves as a senior advisor to the College Board in Washington, D.C.
 
Lorenzo (Ren) Hoopes
 
… has had a long and successful career in both business and the civic arena. He retired in 1979 as senior vice president and director of Safeway, Inc., at that time the largest food retailer in the world, operating stores throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and Saudi Arabia. He took a leave from Safeway in 1953 to serve as executive assistant to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson for two years. He returned to Safeway again in 1955 to continue a highly successful career as a senior administrator over many aspects of the Safeway organization. He retired from Safeway in 1979 and accepted numerous new assignments for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout his life. Through the years, he served in dozens of boards and advisory councils, including 17 years as director of the board of education for the Oakland Unified School District. He served on the National Dairy Council for 20 years, including time as chairman, director and secretary of the organization. Mr. Hoopes also was chairman and a member of the board of directors of the Foundation for American Agriculture, an organization he has supported since joining in 1965. He graduated from Weber College in 1931 and attended the University of Utah in 1934. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1952 and earned an MBA from Pepperdine University. He has an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Utah and an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Oklahoma Christian College. His name is listed in “Who’s Who in the World,” “Who’s Who in the West,” and “Who’s Who in America.” He was honored as one of the One Hundred Distinguished Utahns in 1996.
 
Manon Caine Russell
 
… has made a life-long commitment to supporting dozens of charitable causes in Utah. Along with her sister, Kathryn Caine Wanlass, Manon Caine Russell's name is associated with Utah State University's world-class performance hall, the signature building for the university's Caine School of the Arts. She is a trustee of northern Utah's preeminent foundation, the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation, which has supported countless organizations in Cache and Box Elder counties, including the Brigham City Museum-Gallery, Cache Children's Choir and Cache Valley Center for the Arts, the Chamber Music Society of Logan and Musica Reservata. The organization has supported USU programs in the music department, Utah Public Radio, the Merrill Library, the theatre department, the Women's Center, the interior design department, the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art and many more. In addition, the foundation supports the Stokes Nature Center, the Utah Festival Opera, the Caine Lyric Theatre, Sunshine Terrace, the Unicorn Theatre, Ballet West, KUED-TV, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, the Utah Symphony and Opera, to name just a handful. Russell's love of the fine arts has led her to personally support students and programs in theatre, art, music, and creative writing. She is a board member for the Cache Valley Center for the Arts and the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, and she is also on the Dean's Advancement Council for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Russell received a bachelor's degree in English from Utah State in 1953 and a master's of fine arts from Stanford University in 1955. She has strong family ties to Utah State University. Her grandfather, John T. Caine, was instrumental in establishing the university in Logan, and her father, George, headed Utah State's dairy husbandry department for 39 years. Her mother, Marie Eccles Caine, planted the seeds for a heart-felt interest in the arts. Russell and her family have a long-standing record of contributions to Utah State, and they have made an enormous difference in the quality and vitality of the arts in the state and, in particular, in northern Utah.
C. Peter Magrath

Peter Magrath is the 2006 Spring Commencement Speaker at Utah State University, where he will be awarded an honorary degree.

Lorenzo (Ren) Hoopes

Honorary Degree Recipient Lorenzo (Ren) Hoopes

Manon Caine Russell

Honorary Degree Recipient Manon Caine Russell.

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