George H.W. Bush to address Class of 2008

President Bush and banking industry leader executive John Warren will give Commencement addresses at undergraduate and graduate ceremonies, respectively.

George H.W. Bush, the 41^st president of the United States, will address Bryant University’s 754 graduating seniors and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the University’s undergraduate Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17. Chinese entrepreneur Fan Jianchuan, developer of China’s largest private museum, will receive an honorary Doctor of Business Administration. Roxanne Spillet, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

George H. W. Bush | Fan Jianchuan | Roxanne Spillet | John Warren

As part of the Graduate School Commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 15, John C. Warren, chairman and CEO of Washington Trust and Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc., will receive an honorary Doctor of Business Administration and present the keynote address.

George H. W. Bush

Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters

George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, served from January 1989 to January 1993 during a time of dramatic change in U.S. international relations.

The Bush administration addressed the end of the Cold War and created an unprecedented coalition of 32 nations to liberate Kuwait. President Bush signed landmark pieces of legislation including the Americans with Disabilities Act and Clean Air Act.

Prior to his presidency, he was vice president under President Ronald Reagan, chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in the People’s Republic of China, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, ambassador to the United Nations, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Since leaving office, he has helped to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for charity and has worked with President Bill Clinton to support the relief efforts following the catastrophic tsunami in Southeast Asia and Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast. In 2006, he served as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy for the South Asia earthquake.

Fan Jianchuan

Honorary Doctor of Business Administration

Fan Jianchuan is president of Jianchuan Group, a major real estate development company headquartered in Chengdu, China. He is known throughout China as the founder and president of the Jianchuan Museum Complex (also called the Jianchuan Museum Cluster), the largest private museum in China.

The complex features more than two million historical and cultural relics, many from his personal collection, and has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as an example of “the increasing openness about the way recent history is viewed in China.”

Before he founded Jianchuan Group in 1993, Mr. Fan was an officer in the Chinese army, a university professor, and vice mayor of Yibin in Sichuan Province. He is the author of One Man’s Anti-Japanese War, a bestseller in China in 2000.

Roxanne Spillet

Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters

Roxanne Spillet is president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), the nation’s fastest-growing youth development organization with a primary focus on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Under her leadership, BGCA has expanded its valuable education, technology, and cultural diversity programs. In recognition for her achievements, Spillet was selected in 2004 and 2005 as one of the “Power 50” by The Non-Profit Times. She was also presented with the Excellence in National Executive Leadership Award by the National Human Services Assembly, an association of the nation’s leading national nonprofit organizations in the fields of health, human and community development, and human services.

Ms. Spillet and BGCA were cited by Newsweek (July 2006) as “15 People and Organizations That Make America Great,” part of the magazine’s annual Giving Back Awards.

John C. Warren

Honorary Doctor of Business Administration

John C. Warren, chairman and chief executive officer of Washington Trust and Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc., will give the keynote address at the Graduate Commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 15.

Founded in 1800, Washington Trust is the largest independent bank in Rhode Island and the oldest community bank in the nation. Mr. Warren joined Washington Trust in January 1996 as president and chief operating officer, was promoted to chief executive officer in April 1997, and was appointed chairman in April 1999.

Under his leadership, the corporation has made four major acquisitions: Pier Bank in 1999; Phoenix Investment Management in 2000; First Financial, parent company of First Bank and Trust, in 2002; and Weston Financial Group, Inc. in 2005.

Mr. Warren serves on the boards of numerous civic, professional, and charitable organizations. He was the recipient of the 2004 Humanitarian Award from the Rhode Island and Southeastern New England Chapter of the National Conference for Community and Justice,the 2004 Encore Award for Support of the Arts from the Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island, and the 2005 Community Service Award from Leadership Rhode Island.

To learn more, visit Commencement 2008.

5/13/2008