Martha Nussbaum named graduation speaker at Lawrence

APPLETON - Lawrence University has announced its graduation speaker.

Martha Nussbaum is scheduled to speak at the university’s June 9 commencement ceremony.

Nussbaum has been a professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago since 1995.  She has also taught at Harvard and Brown universities and served as research advisor for the World Institute for Development Economics Research. She is the author of more than 350 published  scholarly articles and nearly three dozen books, including "Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities," which was published in 2010.

Nussbaum has received the Phi Beta Kappa's Sidney Hook Memorial Award, which honors national distinction by a scholar in the areas of scholarship, undergraduate teaching and leadership in the cause of liberal arts education, and Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for Social Science.

"Martha Nussbaum is a great defender of the liberal arts and exemplary role model for our students," Lawrence President Jill Beck said in a news release. "She demonstrates how to bridge effectively scholarly interests with issues of the day and with the need for taking informed positions in our lives and societies. In Dr. Nussbaum's case, she uses her knowledge of classics to generate contemporary political critique. I’m sure the graduating students will enjoy meeting her and hearing her perspectives."

A native of New York City, Nussbaum earned a bachelor's degree from New York University and earned master's and doctorate degrees in classical philology from Harvard University.