2018 Honorary Degree Recipients and Commencement Speaker
The College’s Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to confer the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters upon three distinguished individuals at Albertus Magnus College’s 95th Commencement Exercises, to be held on Sunday, May 20, 2018. This year’s honorees are Harold and Jan Attridge and Erik Clemons; Dr. and Mrs. Attridge and Mr. Clemons employ and promote in their professional and personal lives the values that we uphold as tenets of an Albertus Magnus education. In addition, Mr. Clemons has agreed to offer remarks to our graduates as this year’s Commencement speaker. A short biographical sketch for each honoree is included for your reference. The presence of these individuals at Commencement and their recognition as honorary degree recipients will add to the celebration of our Class of 2018 as its members receive their earned degrees.
Erik Clemons is the founding CEO and president of the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCat), located in New Haven’s Science Park. ConnCat is committed to creating arts-based educational environments for at-risk public school students and career training programs for under- and unemployed adults. He is dedicated to empowering marginalized communities and helping others to see their own potential and power. A former executive director of Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP), which provides innovative academic and social enrichment programs for youth in high-poverty neighborhoods, Mr. Clemons is an education fellow at the Aspen Institute, trustee of START Community Bank, board member of CT State Board of Education, and board chair of the New Haven Housing Authority. He received a B.S. in sociology from Southern Connecticut State University and M.A. in theology and ethics from Hartford Seminary.
Harold W. Attridge is Sterling Professor of Divinity at Yale Divinity School. From 2002 to 2012 he served as dean—the first Catholic to hold that position for more than an interim period. Prior to joining the Yale faculty, he was Professor of New Testament at the University of Notre Dame, where he served as dean of the College of Arts and Letters. Over the years, he has made scholarly contributions to the interpretation of the New Testament, study of Hellenistic Judaism, and the history and literature of the early church. His publications include books, articles, essays, and reviews. Professor Attridge graduated from Boston College, earned B.A. and M.A. from Cambridge University as a Marshall Scholar, and Ph.D. from Harvard University. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015.
Jan Attridge has more than 35 years of leadership experience with not-for-profit organizations, many of them faith-based. Inspired by the women religious who guided her faith formation and modeled what faith in action looks like, she is an engaged Catholic laywoman with a strong commitment to welcoming the stranger, especially refugees. She is the coordinator of refugee resettlement for St. Thomas More Chapel at Yale University. Jan Attridge is chair of the All Africa Conference: Sister to Sister, a ministry begun in 2002 that is dedicated to the empowerment of African Religious Women through education. She earned a B.A. from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.