California State University, Dominguez Hills will present honorary doctorates to Janet Murguía, president and chief executive officer of the National Council of La Raza, and Dr. John Tracy, an alumnus of CSU Dominguez Hills and chief technology officer and senior vice president of engineering, operations and technology at The Boeing Company, during commencement exercises scheduled for Friday, May 20, at the Home Depot Center Tennis Stadium on campus.
Tracy will receive an honorary Doctor of Science at the College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences/College of Extended and International Education ceremony at 11:30 a.m. that day. Murguía will receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at the College of Business Administration and Public Policy ceremony taking place at 6 p.m.
A southern California native, Tracy began his career at McDonnell Douglas—now Boeing—in 1981 as a stress analyst. Since then, he has held a wide variety of leadership roles in world’s largest aerospace company. As a top executive at Boeing, he is responsible for the strategic direction of the company’s engineering, operations and technology functions.
Tracy last walked in commencement exercises at CSU Dominguez Hills in 1976, when he received his bachelor’s in physics. He went on to earn a master’s in physics from CSU Los Angeles and a Ph.D. in engineering from UC Irvine.
As head of the largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the nation, Murguía is one of the most prominent voices on issues concerning Latinos in the United States. She has been recognized for her leadership in the Latino community and the nonprofit world by numerous publications, including being named in Hispanic Business as one of the “100 Most Influential Hispanics,” and featured in Newsweek’s “Women in Leadership” issue. Murguía began her career in public service as legislative counsel for a Kansas congressman and later in the Clinton White House. A native of Kansas, she earned two bachelor’s degrees and a law degree from the University of Kansas.
“Both Dr. Tracy and Ms. Murguía have had impressive careers and serve as fine examples to our students of what they too can achieve with a college education,” said Mildred García, president of CSU Dominguez Hills. “We are honored to bestow these degrees on them.”
The tradition of granting honorary degrees from the CSU system began in 1963 when then-San Diego State College, now CSU San Diego, bestowed such a degree to President John F. Kennedy. The degrees are given in recognition of an individual’s contributions to society. All honorary degrees awarded by CSU Dominguez Hills are conferred by the CSU Board of Trustees. A complete list of honorary doctorate recipients is available at www.calstate.edu/honorarydegrees.
For further biographical information on Murguía and Tracy, and more information on Commencement 2011 at CSU Dominguez Hills, visit www.csudh.edu/commencement.
