Friday, March 23, 2007

Bill Gates, co-founder and chairman of Microsoft Corporation, will be presented with an honorary degree from Harvard University, on June 7, during the university’s 356th commencement proceedings. Gates is to deliver the commencement address for the event.

Although Gates enrolled at Harvard in 1973, he left soon after to focus on the development of Microsoft. Gates is, nonetheless, a member of the Harvard Class of 1977.

In a Harvard University Gazette article announcing the commencement event, the accomplishments of Gates, in both business and philanthropy, were highlighted.

“I am very pleased that the Harvard community will have the opportunity to hear from Bill Gates on June 7,” said Paul Finnegan, president of the Harvard Alumni Association. “His contributions to the world of business and technology, and the great example he has set through his far-reaching philanthropy, will rightfully put him on center stage in Harvard Yard. I look forward to greeting him in June.”

In 2000, Gates founded, with his wife, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF). A charitable foundation, the B&MGF focuses on worldwide health care and poverty issues. The foundation manages currently more than $30 billion in endowments.

Founded in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.