Author Salman Rushdie to deliver Emory commencement May 11

Acclaimed author and human rights advocate Salman Rushdie will be the keynote speaker at Emory University’s spring commencement ceremony on May 11.

Rushdie, who serves as a university distinguished professor at Emory through the spring, will also receive an honorary doctor of letters degree from the university. Rushdie’s commencement participation was announced during a talk on human rights he presented earlier this week.

The author was named a distinguished writer in resident at Emory in 2006, and placed his archive at the university, which opened publicly in 2010.

In addition to Rushdie, former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin, Emory alumnus and first provost Billy Frye and philanthropist and businessman R. Randall Rollins will also be awarded honorary degrees.

About 15,000 people are expected to attend Emory’s commencement, which will be held on the campus quadrangle.

Information: www.emory.edu/commencement

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