2008 Woodie Awards
Chairman of National Endowment for the Humanities to give graduation address
Issue date: 4/24/03 Section: News
 Bruce Cole’s relationship with the NEH dates from 1971, when he was awarded a research fellowship. |
Cole, a scholar of Renaissance art and the eighth chairman of the NEH, joined President Bush for a White House ceremony last September that launched "We the People," an initiative by the NEH to encourage the teaching, studying and understanding of American history and culture.
"Studies have shown that Americans of all ages have a dangerously poor understanding of American history and culture," Cole said. "The President has identified this lack of understanding as a serious problem and has asked NEH to help combat it.
"The September 11 terrorist attack was designed to destroy not only thousands of people, but also the American way of life. In defending our homeland we must fight to protect the democratic ideals and principles of freedom on which our nation was founded."
Cole will bring that message to Lakeland, when it holds its 141st Commencement beginning at 2 p.m. in the Todd Wehr Center on Lakeland's campus. The day will begin at Lakeland with baccalaureate services at 11 a.m. in the Bradley Fine Arts Building.
A record class of over 725 students will earn degrees from Lakeland's traditional day, adult evening and online programs, and Lakeland's graduate studies programs.
Cole came to the NEH in December 2001 from Indiana University in Bloomington, where he was a professor of art history and of comparative literature. He has written 14 books, many of them about the Renaissance.
The Ohio native earned a master's degree from Oberlin College and his doctorate in 1969 from Bryn Mawr College. For two years, he was the William E. Suida Fellow at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, and he has held numerous fellowships and grants.