Date: May 09, 2007

HOFSTRA GEARS UP FOR SPRING COMMENCEMENT 2007

HONOREES INCLUDE: Ellen V. Futter, President, American Museum of Natural History; Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO, American Express Company; Hon. Christine M. Durham, Chief Justice, Utah Supreme Court

HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, HEMPSTEAD, NY: Hofstra University is preparing for its graduation festivities scheduled for Sunday, May 20, 2007. Approximately 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and School of Law students will celebrate their commencement.

For information on eligibility, tickets, caps and gowns, and photos and videos visit http://www.hofstra.edu/commencement or call the Commencement Office at (516) 463-4346.

2007 Commencement honorees are:

•    Ellen V. Futter, president, American Museum of Natural History, who will address the undergraduate commencement at 11 a.m. in James M. Shuart Stadium.

•    Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and CEO, American Express Company, who will address the graduate commencement at 3:30 p.m. at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.

•    Hon. Christine M. Durhams, Chief Justice, Utah Supreme Court, who will address the School of Law graduates at 7 p.m., also at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.

In the event of inclement weather, the undergraduate ceremony will take place at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex at the regularly scheduled time. A commencement ceremony simulcast will be shown in the Mack Student Center Theater, Physical Fitness Center, John Cranford Adams Playhouse, Monroe Lecture Center Theater and Hofstra USA. If there is a question regarding weather, please call (516) 463-7669.

For information on media coverage, please call the office of University Relations at (516) 463-6818.

About the honorees:

Ellen V. Futter has been president of the American Museum of Natural History since 1993. Before joining the Museum she served as president of Barnard College for 13 years. She is a director of a number of corporations and not-for-profit organizations, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She began her career as an associate at the Wall Street firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy where she practiced corporate law. In 1980 she took a years leave of absence from the firm to serve as Barnards acting president. At the end of that period, she was appointed president of the College and served there until she joined the Museum.

Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express Company, joined the company in 1981 as director of strategic planning. He was named president of the Consumer Card Group in 1989, and in 1993 he became president of Travel Related Services (TRS), which encompassed all of American Express card and travel businesses in the United States. In 1995 he assumed additional responsibility for the companys worldwide card and travel business and also was named vice chairman of American Express. Mr. Chenault became president and chief operating officer in February 1997. He assumed responsibilities as CEO in January 2001 and as chairman three months after that.

Chief Justice Christine M. Durham has been on the Utah Supreme Court since 1982, after serving as a trial judge for four years, one of them as presiding judge of the Third Judicial District Court. She became chief justice in April 2002. She received her A.B. with honors from Wellesley College and a J.D. from Duke University, where she is a member of the Board of Trustees. Chief Justic Durham has been active in judicial education, serving as the first chair of the Utah Judicial Councils Education Committee and a founder of the Leadership Institute in Judicial Education.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students find their edge to succeed in more than 140 undergraduate and 155 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, our professors teach small classes averaging 23 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis.
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For information on eligibility, tickets, caps and gowns, and photos and videos visit http://www.hofstra.edu/commencement or call the Commencement Office at (516) 463-4346.