Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisory Christina Romer ’81 is slated to speak during the College of William and Mary’s spring commencement exercises, the Commencement Committee announced today.
As chairman, Romer serves on the Cabinet and as an economic advisor to President Barack Obama. She majored in economics at the College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa before receiving a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Romer taught at the University of California-Berkeley for
ten years, during which time she won the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
“William and Mary is very fortunate to have Christina Romer among our graduates,” College President Taylor Reveley said in a press release. “In this time of economic uncertainty and peril, she has been a true and steady hand for President Obama and the nation. We look forward to welcoming her to campus once again.”
Pulitzer Prize winner Annette Gordan-Reed and former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill will receive honorary degrees.
Gordan-Reed, a presidential scholar with degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, has taught at New York Law School since 1992. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for her biography of Thomas Jefferson.
O’Neill, who began his government career during the Nixon administration, was appointed Secretary of Treasury by then-President George W. Bush in 2001. He has served on several national committees, including the National Leadership Commission on Healthcare. In 2009, O’Neill taught as a guest professor at the William and Mary Mason School of Business.
The main commencement ceremonies will take place May 16 in Kaplan Arena at noon.