Mount Ida College Announces Distinguished Honorary Degree Recipients and Commencement 2013 Speaker

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The Honorable Setti Warren, Mayor of Newton, Mass., Mount Ida College honorary degree recipient and commencement speaker on Friday, May 17, 2013.

NEWTON, MA (04/03/2013)(readMedia)-- Mount Ida College is pleased to announce that three distinguished guests will receive honorary degrees at the college's commencement on Friday, May 17, 2013: The Honorable Setti Warren, Mayor of Newton, Massachusetts; Anita Hill, Senior Advisor to the Provost and Professor of Law, Public Policy and Women's Studies, Brandeis University; and Paul S. Grogan, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Boston Foundation. Mayor Warren will deliver the college's commencement address on Friday, May 17, 2013 at 11 a.m. on campus.

"Setti Warren is a lifelong resident of Newton and has dedicated much of his life making his community a better place to live and work," commented President Barry Brown, Mount Ida College. "His steadfast commitment to addressing challenging issues, from easing racial tensions in the early days of his youth to tackling tough economic choices as Mayor, speaks volumes to how one person can make a difference in the lives of many. The Mount Ida community is honored to have him as our commencement speaker."

Setti Warren has been Mayor of Newton since 2009. Prior to running for Mayor, he completed a year-long tour of duty in Iraq as a Naval Intelligence Specialist. Warren's extensive career in public services includes his position as Deputy State Director for former Senator John Kerry, charged with small business and economic development and bringing federal assistance to cities and towns across the Commonwealth. As New England's Director of FEMA, he worked closely with mayors, members of Congress and governors to administer effectively FEMA programs to cities and towns throughout New England. Warren began his career as Special Assistant in the White House Office of Cabinet for President Bill Clinton. Warren earned a B.A. at Boston College and a J.D. at Suffolk University. As a high school student, Warren received an acknowledgement of local distinction; then Mayor of Newton, Thomas Concannon, declared December 17, 1997 "Setti Warren Day" for his outstanding work as Vice-Chair of Newton's Foundation for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Equality.

At commencement, Mount Ida College will award all three distinguished honorary degree recipients with Doctor of Social Science degrees.

About Anita Hill

Anita Hill received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1980 and began her career in private practice in Washington, D.C. Before becoming a law professor, she worked at the U. S. Education Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 1989, Hill became the first African American to be tenured at the University of Oklahoma, College of Law, where she taught contracts and commercial law. Currently, at Brandeis University, she teaches civil rights courses. As counsel to Cohen Milstein, Hill advises on class action workplace discrimination cases. Professor Hill is the subject of Freida Lee Mock's documentary, ANITA, which premiered in January of 2013 at the Sundance Film festival and has written a number of books, including her latest, Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race and Finding Home. She has also written her biography, Speaking Truth to Power and co-edited with Professor Emma Coleman Jordan, Race, Gender and Power in America: The Legacy of the Hill-Thomas Hearings. Professor Hill has received numerous honorary degrees and civic awards. She has chaired the Human Rights Law Committee of the International Bar Association. In addition, she is on the Board of Directors of the National Women's Law Center and the Boston Area Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.

About Paul S. Grogan

Paul S. Grogan serves as the President and CEO of the Boston Foundation, one of the nation's oldest and largest community foundations. With assets of more than $800 million, the Foundation distributed grants of more than $88 million to nonprofit organizations throughout the Greater Boston community in 2012. Under his tenure, the Foundation has become a highly visible and influential civic leader and spearheaded a number of innovative, high-impact initiatives. Prior to the Boston Foundation, as Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs at Harvard University, he created a national organization, "CEOs for Cities," whose members include city mayors, business, and university and foundation executives. Grogan served Mayors Kevin H. White and Raymond L. Flynn, heading neighborhood revitalization efforts, including pioneering a series of public/private ventures, which were emulated nationally by other large cities. He graduated from Williams College with honors, earned a master's degree in administration from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is a founder and director of The Community Development Trust; a director of New Profit Inc., a trustee of Brandeis University, a former trustee of Williams College and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

About Commencement

Mount Ida College expects to confer approximately 200 degrees from the College's five schools: Animal Science, Arts and Sciences, Business, Design and the New England Institute. For more information on commencement activities, please visit "Commencement 2013" at mountida.edu.

Mount Ida College is a small, private college in Newton, Massachusetts that provides best-in-class signature professional programs-all to prepare career-focused students for achievement immediately after school, and beyond. To learn more, visit our website at www.mountida.edu or find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.