Friday, May 15, 2009
Whitman College will confer honorary doctor of humane letters degrees on Bishop Othal Hawthorne Lakey ’57 and scientist Bill Priedhorsky ’73 at Commencement ceremonies here Sunday, May 24.
The 2009 ceremonies will begin at 11 a.m. on the Memorial Hall lawn off Boyer Avenue, where approximately 340 seniors will receive their diplomas, and Commencement speaker Ryan Crocker ’71, former ambassador to Iraq, will address “Lessons from a Long War.”
“Whitman alumni are outstanding contributors across a compelling range of diverse professions,” said Whitman President George Bridges. “Bishop Lakey and Bill Priedhorsky exemplify how a Whitman education prepares our students to fulfill their potential. We hope our students will emulate and find inspiration in these exemplary role models.”
Bishop Othal Lakey is a nationally known preacher, lecturer and author and the Presiding Prelate of the Sixth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, which consists of the State of Georgia. He is the author and co-author of several books, including “The History of the CME Church” and “God in My Mama’s House: A Study of the Women’s Movement in the CME Church,” and he appears regularly on the nationally syndicated television program, The American Religious Town Hall.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in history from Whitman, Bishop Lakey earned master of divinity and theology degrees from Drew and Southern Methodist universities. He holds several honorary degrees and is the vice-chair of the Board of Trustees for Paine College and Phillips School of Theology, and is the secretary of the College of Bishops of the Chsistian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Bishop Lakey was licensed to preach at the age of 12 in the CME Church and he was assigned his first pastoral charge at 18. In his pastoral ministry he served in Pasco; Portland; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Dallas. From 1974 to 1982 he was editor of the Christian Index, the official publication of the CME Church.
Bill Priedhorsky has been on the staff of Los Alamos National Laboratory since 1978 and was named a laboratory fellow in 1997. He is currently chief scientist in the International, Space, and Response Division and for the new Los Alamos Threat Reduction Science Institute. He conducts research on new technologies that can stymie the spread of weapons of mass destruction, whether nuclear, chemical or biological.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in physics from Whitman, Priedhorsky earned a Ph.D. in physics, specializing in x-ray astronomy, from the California Institute of Technology in 1978. He then joined Los Alamos as a staff member and began developing x-ray diagnostics for laser fusion research. In 1981 he joined the Space Astronomy and Astrophysics group, where some of his most notable work involved developing instrumentation for nuclear burst detection and other national security missions. He also conceived and led the development of ALEXIS small satellite mission from 1988 to 1993; from 1999 to 2003 he was chief scientist in the Nonproliferation and International Security Division. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society.
