Founder and President of the Posse Foundation Deborah Bial '87 will deliver the 2012 commencement address on May 20, announced University President Frederick Lawrence at the Board of Trustees meeting this week, according to a March 28 BrandeisNOW press release.

Bial will receive an honorary degree from the University, as will Nobel Prize recipients Sydney Brenner and Amartya Sen; President of the Juilliard School Joseph Polisi; and philanthropist and former Trustee Myra Hiatt Kraft '64, who passed away last July.

The Posse Foundation is a "college access and youth leadership development program" that sends small groups of diverse students from several cities to selective colleges each year, according to its website. The program aims to accomplish three goals, according to its website: to encourage these institutions to accept students of various backgrounds, to create "welcoming" environments for these students at these universities and to see to it that these students, who may have otherwise not attended college or have dropped out, graduate from college.

The Science Posse program was recognized as an "effective program to bring under-represented, urban students from diverse backgrounds to college and help them graduate," according to a Feb. 7 press release from the White House.

In an interview with the Justice, Zachary Sax '12 said that he would have preferred someone who was "more representative of the entire school population as opposed to a small part of the population" and someone "who was more well known to everyone."

In an interview with the Justice, Jordi Goodman '12 said that she hopes Bial will give "an inspirational speech" but that she had not heard of the speaker until the announcement.

Brenner, a biologist and geneticist, is also the founder of the Molecular Sciences Institute, according to the BrandeisNOW press release. Established in 1996, the institute aims to "significantly advance understanding of how living systems function and evolve," according to its website.

Brenner received the 2002 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine, along with Sir John Sulston, professor and chair of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester, and Robert Horvitz, chair of the board of trustees at Society for Science of the Public, a non-profit organization that promotes the sciences. The three were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work in developmental biology, according to the press release.

Sen, the Lamont University Professor and a professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University, received a Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his "contributions to welfare economics" according to the Nobel Prize's website. According to the press release, Sen is a contributor to the social choice theory and has published numerous publications on topics in these fields. In addition, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama for "his insights into the causes of poverty, famine and injustice" according to a citation quoted in a Feb. 16 press release from IndiaWest, an Indian and U.S. news publication. 

Polisi has served as president of the Juilliard School since 1984, overseeing a "transformation of its curriculum" and a plan "that increased student financial aid and faculty compensation," according to the press release. Polisi is also the founder of the Academy, a joint two-year fellowship program between Juilliard and Carnegie Hall, the Weill Music Institute and the New York City Department of Education. The Academy is designed for "musicians who wish to redefine their role as musician and extend their music," according to its website.

Kraft served on the University's Board of Trustees starting in 1986 and was vice chair for 10 years. She also served on the search committee that selected Lawrence to become University president. In an email to the Justice after her death last year, Lawrence called Kraft, who was the daughter of Hiatt Career Center founder Jacob Hiatt, a "true Brandeisian." Kraft was well known for her philanthropic endeavors in Boston as well as for her student scholarships at the University. According to the press release, her husband, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, will accept the degree on her behalf.

According to the press release, members of the Brandeis community may nominate anyone to receive an honorary degree. A committee narrows down the list of candidates, which is then approved by the Board of Trustees and sent to Lawrence, who ultimately selects the degree recipients.

-Shafaq Hasan contributed reporting.