Honorary Degree Recipients Announced for Commencement 2011

Haverford College will award honorary degrees to humanitarian and former NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo; lawyer and children's advocate Robert G. Schwartz '71; and local food activist and restaurateur Judy Wicks at this year's commencement. The three honorees, whose diverse work represents social justice and sustainability ideals that are central to the College and its Quaker roots, will speak at the ceremony on Sunday, May 15.

DIKEMBE MUTOMBO

Dikembe Mutombo graduated from Georgetown University on a USAID scholarship with a B.A. in linguistics and diplomacy. He speaks nine languages. A retired Congolese-American professional basketball player, he played for the Denver Nuggets, the Atlanta Hawks, the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Nets, the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets over the course of his 18-year NBA career. Mutombo is considered one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players of all time, and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times. Beyond the world of sports, he started the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997 to improve living conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has funded more than half of the cost for a hospital in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa. Mutombo is the recipient of numerous humanitarian awards, including the President's Service Award.

ROBERT G. SCHWARTZ '71

After graduating from Temple University School of Law in 1975, Robert Schwartz co-founded Juvenile Law Center, a Pennsylvania-based public interest law firm that works to reform state systems to ensure that youth in the foster care and justice systems have opportunities to succeed in life, are treated fairly and aren't harmed by systems that are supposed to help them. He has written extensively on the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, testified before congressional and state legislative committees, represented children in state and federal class action litigation, and in abuse, neglect and delinquency cases. A national and international leader in advocating for children's rights, he is also a gubernatorial appointee to the Pa. Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the past chair of the Juvenile Justice Committee of the ABA Criminal Justice Section. Schwartz is the recipient of numerous awards for exemplary service in the public interest.

JUDY WICKS

In 1983, Judy Wicks founded the White Dog Café in her home after she helped save her Philadelphia block from demolition. What began as a muffin shop grew into a restaurant with a reputation for community involvement, environmental stewardship, responsible business practices and leadership in the local food movement. Wicks is co-founder and chair of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies and the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia. She is also the founder of Fair Food, a non-profit with programs that connect local family farms to the urban marketplace. Wicks, whose work has been widely profiled in the media, has been a featured speaker at national events focused on local living economies and sustainable food production. She has won numerous local and national awards.

--Rebecca Raber