Emory University President James W. Wagner received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame at the school's 167th commencement May 20.
Wagner was among 11 distinguished figures in business, education, engineering, law, mathematics, media, medicine and the Catholic Church who were honored by the university during the ceremony.
An award-winning teacher and scientist and a prolific author, Wagner is the 19th president of Emory. A native of Silver Spring, Md., he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Delaware and master's and doctoral degrees in engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
He joined the engineering faculty at Hopkins in 1984 and later became a department chair before moving to Case Western Reserve University in 1998. A strong advocate of liberal education, he served as a dean, provost and interim president over 15 years at Case Western. He became Emory's president in 2003 and has continued to speak and write prolifically, especially on the relationship between ethics, science and the role of the university.
Archbishop Wilton Gregory, the sixth and current leader of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, and Dick Ebersol, renowned NBC producer, were among the other honorary degree recipients.