Three leaders in the fields of journalism, poetry and space science research are being recommended for honorary degrees at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus’ 2023 Winter Commencement.
Journalist and commentator David Brooks will be the main speaker at the Dec. 17 ceremony at Crisler Center. He has been recommended for an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Others recommended for honorary degrees are:
- Robert Hass, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Doctor of Fine Arts.
- Thomas H. Zurbuchen, acclaimed astrophysicist and educator, Doctor of Science.
The degrees are pending approval by the Board of Regents at its Dec. 7 meeting.
(Update: The Board of Regents approved the honorary degrees Dec. 7.)
The following information about each recommended recipient was provided by University and Development Events.
David Brooks
Brooks is a public intellectual who observes and interprets the cultural, political, economic and moral lives of world leaders and everyday citizens.
He is an opinion columnist for The New York Times, contributor to Atlantic magazine, commentator for PBS NewsHour, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and is a nonfiction author.
He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and went to work for the City News Bureau in Chicago as a crime-beat reporter.
He joined The Wall Street Journal in 1986, and in 1990 was sent to Brussels as a columnist assigned to cover Russia, the Middle East, South Africa and European affairs, and later became the paper’s op-ed editor. In 1995, he joined the new, neo-conservative magazine, Weekly Standard.
Brooks published his first book, “Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There,” in 2000. He has since written nine other books. He joined The New York Times as an editorial writer in 2003.
Brooks teaches at the University of Chicago, serves on its Board of Trustees and is an adviser for its Institute of Politics. He founded “Weave: The Social Fabric Project” at the Aspen Institute in 2017 to identify and support people and organizations working to build trust and restore the social fabric within their communities.
Brooks also contributes to several publications, including The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Public Interest, The New Republic and Commentary, among others. He has received more than 30 honorary degrees from American universities and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Robert Hass
Hass — a Pulitzer Prize-winner, former poet laureate of the United States, educator, essayist, environmentalist and social activist — is one of the most widely read and acclaimed poets in America. He is a Distinguished Professor of Poetry and Poetics at University of California, Berkeley.
He graduated from St. Mary’s College of California in 1963 and earned his Master of Arts degree in 1965 and Ph.D. in 1971, both in English at Stanford University.
Hass’ first poetry collection, “Field Guide,” published in 1973, won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. His second volume, “Praise,” published in 1979, won the William Carlos Williams Award.
Hass received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and released a book of essays, “Twentieth Century Pleasures: Prose on Poetry,” in 1984. His 1996 work, “Sun Under Wood — New Poems,” won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Hass taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1967, St. Mary’s College from 1971-89 and at Berkley from 1989-2019.
He won the National Book Award in 2007 and the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for “Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005,” and was named U.S. poet laureate from 1995-97. He then reached out to businesspeople and local civic groups to promote literacy, including environmental literacy, and to foster support for poetry contests for students.
Hass founded River of Words, an organization that promotes environmental and arts education in affiliation with the Library of Congress Center for the Book. Hass was named Educator of the Year by the North American Association on Environment Education and elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005.
Thomas H. Zurbuchen
A Swiss-American astrophysicist, Zurbuchen is a professor and the director of Space Activities at ETH, the leading public research university in Switzerland dedicated to educating future generations of scientists and engineers.
He also is the longest-serving science chief in NASA’s history, a former professor of space science and engineering at U-M’s College of Engineering, and founding director of U-M’s award-winning Center for Entrepreneurship.
Zurbuchen graduated with highest honors from the University of Bern in 1992 with a Master of Science degree in physics, mathematics and astronomy. He earned his doctorate in physics in 1996 with a minor in mathematics from the University of Bern.
Zurbuchen then began a U-M research fellowship, eventually becoming professor of space science and aerospace engineering. He authored or co-authored more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals focused primarily on the heliospheric phenomena, a region in space influenced by the sun or solar wind.
Zurbuchen joined NASA from 2016-22, becoming its longest-serving associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. Under his leadership, NASA launched 37 missions and initiated another 54.
He was named director of space activities at ETH Zurich in August 2023. He is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and the Swiss Academy of Science and Engineering, and a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Zurbuchen has received three commendations for his service at NASA: the Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2020, the U.S. Presidential Rank Award in 2021, and the Distinguished Service Medal in 2022. In 2023, the International Astronautical Federation presented him with its Excellence in International Cooperation Award.
