Maxwell King Is Pitt’s Honors Convocation Speaker »
32nd annual event to be held Feb. 29 at Carnegie Music Hall
Maxwell King, who served as president of The Heinz Endowments from 1999 to Jan. 15, 2008, will be the keynote speaker at the University of Pittsburgh’s 32nd annual Honors Convocation on Feb. 29.
The event will be held at 2 p.m. in Carnegie Music Hall. King’s address is titled “Hard Times on Planet Earth: How Human Ingenuity Has Gotten Us in Trouble With the Natural World and How It Can Help Us Build a Model of Stewardship for the Future.”
Prior to his address, King will have an honorary doctoral degree conferred upon him by Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, who will preside over the event, which recognizes undergraduate, graduate, and professional student academic achievement; student leadership; and faculty accomplishments.
During King’s tenure, the Endowments awarded about $500 million in grants to projects, organizations, and initiatives, most of them in Western Pennsylvania. His tenure was marked by strong leadership on environmental issues and in advocating for more economic opportunities for the disadvantaged—especially for women and underrepresented groups that have had limited access to the most influential positions in regional life. Other areas in which he made significant contributions were in the promotion of literacy, civic design, early childhood education, and academic reform in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
Maxwell King, who served as president of The Heinz Endowments from 1999 to Jan. 15, 2008, will be the keynote speaker at the University of Pittsburgh’s 32nd annual Honors Convocation on Feb. 29.The event will be held at 2 p.m. in Carnegie Music Hall. King’s address is titled “Hard Times on Planet Earth: How Human Ingenuity Has Gotten Us in Trouble With the Natural World and How It Can Help Us Build a Model of Stewardship for the Future.”
Prior to his address, King will have an honorary doctoral degree conferred upon him by Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, who will preside over the event, which recognizes undergraduate, graduate, and professional student academic achievement; student leadership; and faculty accomplishments.
During King’s tenure, the Endowments awarded about $500 million in grants to projects, organizations, and initiatives, most of them in Western Pennsylvania. His tenure was marked by strong leadership on environmental issues and in advocating for more economic opportunities for the disadvantaged—especially for women and underrepresented groups that have had limited access to the most influential positions in regional life. Other areas in which he made significant contributions were in the promotion of literacy, civic design, early childhood education, and academic reform in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
