On Saturday, May 19, Southern Methodist University will hold its 92nd annual commencement ceremony in Moody Coliseum. The commencement speaker for this year is renowned television journalist and commentator Bill Moyers. Moyers, along with Dallas civic and business leader William T. Solomon and writer and SMU professor Marshall Terry, will present the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees.
These three men will help this year’s graduating seniors begin their journey into the real world. When asked about his feelings regarding the fast-approaching graduation, Dalton Knoderer, a business major, said, “I am ready to move on to the next part of my life, but I am really going to miss all my friends here at SMU.”
“I don’t want to graduate,” senior Elizabeth Myers said. ” Put me through another four years of college. The memories and friendships that I have made here at SMU have been the best of my life, and I am not ready for this time to be over.”
Senior Will Cannon has mixed emotions about graduation.
“Graduation is pretty scary,” he said. ” But I am also pretty excited to go out into the real world and see what I am truly made of.”
Bill Moyers studied journalism at the University of North Texas and eventually transferred to University of Texas at Austin. He earned his B.A. in journalism from UT, and then a B.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1959 he became an ordained minister. Before beginning his journalism career, Moyers served as special assistant and White House press secretary to President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Since beginning his career in journalism, Moyers has had a very extensive career, which began in 1967 when he became publisher of Newsday. By 1971 he worked for PBS hosting a news program called “Bill Moyers Journal.” He continues to work for PBS today, and on April 25, “Bill Moyers Journal” returned for the first time since 1981.
Moyers has won almost every television journal award. Since graduating college, he has won more than 20 Emmys, a lifetime Peabody Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Television Academy, the duPont-Columbia Gold Baton Award and was elected to the Television Hall of Fame.
William T. Solomon has been an influential member of the Dallas community for many years. He has served as chair of the Dallas Citizens Council and the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.
He has also been on many boards, including the SMU Board of Trustees. He received a B.S. degree in civil engineering at SMU and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
He has received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the Hall of Leaders Award of the SMU School of Engineering.
Marshall Terry earned both his B.A. and M.A. degrees at SMU. He has also worked at SMU his entire professional life. He has been the chair of the English Department twice, where he began teaching in 1954.
He also introduced and directed the creative writing program. Professor Terry founded the SMU Literary Festival and has directed SMU programs in Madrid, Oxford and Taos. He has written 11 books, including novels, short stories and a history of SMU.
He has received numerous writing awards and has also been honored with the SMU Distinguished Alumni Award.
