Dear Seniors and Guests of the Class of 2018:

I look forward to welcoming you, on behalf of the Skidmore College community, to the College’s 107th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. 

We hope that when you read the schedule of activities for Commencement Weekend, you will be as full of anticipation as we are. My wife, Marie, and I especially look forward to your joining us for a reception Friday afternoon at historic Scribner House, our residence and the former home of Lucy Skidmore Scribner.

We are very proud to announce that at this year’s Commencement ceremony, Skidmore will confer honorary degrees upon two extraordinary individuals:

Alison Bechdel is an acclaimed author, cartoonist, MacArthur fellow and Tony Award winner who has been widely recognized for her outstanding contributions to the comic art form. Bechdel came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her New York Times best-selling memoir Fun Home, which was adapted for Broadway, and is now a highly successful award-winning musical appearing in New York City, London, and locally, at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady.

Robert S. D. Higgins is the Johns Hopkins Hospital's surgeon-in-chief, the William Stewart Halsted Professor of Surgery and the director of the Department of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Higgins is a world-renowned authority in the field of heart and lung transplantation and in coronary artery bypass surgery. His scientific interests include the mechanisms of cell injury in failing hearts, health economics and policy, racial disparities in post-transplant outcomes, access to care and improving outcomes among heart failure and cardiac surgery patients.

Following a Skidmore tradition, a faculty member selected by the graduates will speak as well. I am pleased to announce that Christopher B. Mann, assistant professor of political science, has been chosen for this distinct honor. academic research focuses on aspects of elections, campaigns and voting, and his courses include Campaigns and Elections, Politics and News Media, and Election Research, among others. In addition to his work at Skidmore, Mann serves as Advisory Board member at the MIT Election Data and Science Laboratory.

Each of our distinguished guests will briefly address the graduating class. Board of Trustees Chair W. Scott McGraw P'12, Class of 2018 President Rachael Thomeer, and I will also offer our congratulations.

We look forward to celebrating this special milestone with the Class of 2018, their families, and guests in May.

 

Sincerely,

Philip A. Glotzbach
President