The Georgia Board of Regents on Tuesday approved a request from Georgia Tech to give former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice an  honorary degree at its fall commencement ceremony.

Rice will deliver the keynote address at the Dec. 15 ceremony, Georgia Tech officials said.

“We encourage our students to serve as leaders prepared to address some of society’s greatest challenges. I can think of no greater role model to speak to our new graduates than Condoleezza Rice,” Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson said in a news release.

Rice was Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009, the second term of President George W. Bush. She’s now a faculty member at Stanford University and a founding partner of RiceHadleyGates, LLC., an international consulting firm.

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