Veritas, Vol. 30, No. 08, April 1990

              APRIL 1990 • VOLUME 30 • NUMBER 8 • FOR THE FACULTY AND STAFF OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Russell Baker to speak at commencement
For 28 years Russell Baker has written the twice-weekly “Observer” column for The New York Times, adding his wit and humor to the morning ritual of reading the paper for generations of readers.
On May 11 Baker will be the speaker at the University of Miami graduation ceremonies, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on the Coral Gables campus.
Baker’s long career began at The Baltimore Sun in 1947, where he was police reporter, general assignment reporter, “rewriteman,” London correspondent, and White House correspondent. (In his most recent book of memoirs, The Good Times, he writes, “It wasn’t that I especially wanted to work for a newspaper, I was simply desperate for a job. Any job.")
Seven years later he was lured away to The New York Times Washington bureau and covered the White House, Congress, and the State Department, which included the presidential
campaigns of Eisenhower, Nixon, and Kennedy.
Baker is the author of numerous articles and books, including his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoirs Growing Up. His next book, There’s a Country in My Cellar; is scheduled to be published in the fall. His columns appear in college textbooks as models of clear, concise, and pointed writing.
“Don’t settle for writing it the way it’s always been written,” Baker once said. “Dare to write it differently, and maybe you will write it better than it’s been written before.”
Also during the ceremony, five renowned experts in their fields will receive honorary degrees for the contributions they have made.
Miami-Dade Community College President Robert McCabe will be recognized for his contributions to the success of the college, which was selected in 1986 as the number one commmunity college in the nation by a national committee of education experts. He has been the driving force behind MDCC’s philosophy of easy access to higher education and a commitment to excellence. McCabe arrived in Miami 40 years ago to attend the University of Miami where he received his bachelor’s degree in education.
Camilo Jose Cela'the leading Spanish novelist, received the 1989 Nobel Prize in Literature. Cela is
the author of many well-known works including his first, and some say his best novel, La Familia de Pascual Duarte, written in 1942.
Marian Wright Edelman is founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. In this position she has addressed problems facing children, particularly poor and minority children. “The message of my life and of the people around me during the important formative years of my life,” said Edelman in a 1988 interview, “was that you really can change the world if you care enough.”
Mildred Cohn is a renowned biochemist. Her research has been in metabolic studies with stable isotopes, mechanisms of enzymatic reactions, and electron spin and nuclear magnetic resonance.
She has been associated with the prestigious medical schools of Washington University, Cornell University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University, among others.
Vincent Scully, one of the world’s leading architectural historians and critics, is also a leading commentator on the changing design of urban areas and its effect on the populace. He has published several books that explore those dimensions, including American Architecture and Urbanism.
Business dean charts future
Kenneth J. Fedor, the new dean of the School of Business Administration, which has been without a permanent dean since July 1988, comes to the University of Miami with a wide range of experience and several goals in mind.
“One of the first things I need to do is listen to faculty, administrators, students, alumni, and the business community to determine where this school should go,” he says.
“We also want to look very closely at the major product of our school—the graduates who go out to work in the business world—to be sure that they are as prepared as they should be,” he adds.
Fedor, former president of Quaker Oats Company’s United States Convenience Foods Division, served in several executive capacities with the company for 15 years in the United States and Europe. He also served as administrator of economics programs in the Executive Office of the President in Washington, D.C., and taught at the United States Military Academy at West Point and the University of Tennessee, where he earned his doctoral degree.
“Ken Fedor has the rare combination of experience in business, government, and higher education to lead our business school into the nineties,” says President Edward T. Foote II.
Presidential praise
A visit to the White House was the icing on the cake for Coach Dennis Erickson and the Hurricanes, who achieved the national collegiate football championship this year. After greetings by President George Bush in the Rose Garden; Coach Erickson gives the president a football jersey depicting the team s status.