6/4/98

ATHENS, Ohio -- A record 3,600 or more undergraduates are expected at Ohio University's two commencement ceremonies June 13 and speeches by U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former hostage Terry Anderson are expected to fill both sessions in the 13,000-seat Convocation Center.

A record 3,489 undergraduates participated in commencement ceremonies last year and cap-and-gown orders are running ahead of last year, according to Gretchen Stephens, commencement coordinator.

Anderson, a former Associated Press chief Middle East correspondent and seven-year hostage in Lebanon, will speak at the 10 a.m. ceremony. Anderson will become a visiting professor at Ohio University in July. Gingrich will speak at the 2 p.m. ceremony.

"As a strong advocate of both teaching and research, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to speak to graduates of a national research university," Gingrich said. "As you know, this is the first institution of higher learning in the Northwest Territory and the oldest university in the Midwest and I'm honored to be able to participate in commencement proceedings with such a long tradition."

Master's, Ph.D. and doctor of osteopathic medicine degree candidates will take part in ceremonies at 10 a.m. Friday, June 12. Norman Gevitz, chair of the College of Osteopathic Medicine's new Social Medicine Department, will give the graduate commencement keynote address.

Now serving his 10th term in Congress, Gingrich is the first Republican to be re-elected Speaker of the House of Representatives since 1928. Gingrich served as House Republican whip from 1989-1994. He represents the 6th Congressional District of Georgia.

Acknowledged as the chief architect of the Republican "Contract with America," he served as chairman of the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego. Gingrich was called the "Hottest Entrepreneur in America" by Peter Drucker in Inc. Magazine.

Time magazine, in naming Gingrich "Man of the Year" for 1995, said, "Newt Gingrich belongs in the category of the exceptional....Today, because of Newt Gingrich, the question is not whether a balanced budget plan will come to pass, but when."

Gingrich received his bachelor's degree from Emory University and a master's and doctorate in modern European history from Tulane University. He taught history and environmental studies at West Georgia College for eight years before being elected to Congress in 1978.

Anderson, a native of Lorain, Ohio, gained worldwide renown after he was captured in 1985 and held captive by the radical Islamic Jihad in Lebanon for nearly seven years. Anderson and his wife, Madeleine Bassil, are co-authors of the national best-seller "Den of Lions," the story of his years of captivity. He also wrote, narrated and co-produced "Return to the Den of Lions," a CNN documentary on Lebanon today.

A graduate of Iowa State University, Anderson joined the AP as a broadcast editor in Detroit in 1974. He later worked as the state editor for the Kentucky AP in Louisville, before joining the foreign desk in New York as an editor.

He reported for the AP from Tokyo and Southern Africa before transferring to the Middle East in 1982 to cover the Lebanese civil war and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. After his release from captivity in 1991, he was a fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center in New York. He joined Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism as an associate professor in 1996.

Three weeks after his commencement speech, Anderson will join the faculty of Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism as a Scripps Howard Visiting Professional.

An increasing number of undergraduates participating in commencement exercises prompted the switch to two ceremonies in 1996 when more than 3,000 undergraduates participated.

Participating graduating seniors from the colleges of Business, Communication, Fine Arts and Health and Human Services will receive their diplomas at the morning session. Graduates of the Honors Tutorial College and the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education, Engineering and University College will attend the afternoon session.