Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, will deliver the principal address at MIT's 142nd Commencement exercises at 10 a.m., Friday, June 6, in Killian Court.
Yunus won the Nobel Prize for pioneering the microlending movement, which seeks to improve the lives of the poor by offering credit without collateral. The bank he founded, Grameen Bank, has provided credit to millions of poor people in villages in Bangladesh.
Admission to MIT's Commencement exercises for ticketed guests begins at 7:30 a.m. Graduates will robe and assemble on the second floor of Johnson Athletic Center beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Following the exercises, a reception will be held for graduates and their guests on the Kresge Oval.
In all, 983 undergraduate students and 1,352 graduate students are scheduled to receive 1,140 bachelor's degrees, 936 master's degrees, 407 doctorates and nine engineer degrees.
A special hooding ceremony for PhD recipients will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 5, in Rockwell Cage.
For guests attending the Commencement exercises on Friday, complimentary parking will be available in the Albany Garage, the N10 Annex Lot and the N10 Lot.
Parkers with North Area permits are urged to use alternate modes of transportation on the day of Commencement. For those who must drive, parking will be available in the 158 Mass. Ave. Lot, N42 Lot, 70 Pacific St. Lot, 65 Waverly St. Lot and the West Garage.
In the event the Commencement exercises in Killian Court are canceled due to severe weather conditions, the speeches will be held in Rockwell Cage for the stage assembly and graduates only. Guests may view the speeches on closed-circuit television in viewing locations throughout the campus.
Complete Commencement information is available at http://web.mit.edu/commencement/2008/.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on June 4, 2008 (download PDF).
