Harvard Law Professor Dr. Kenneth W. Mack Selected as HU's Commencement Speaker

March 25, 2010 - PRLog -- An alumnus of Harrisburg’s public schools who is now a professor at Harvard Law School has been selected to give the Commencement Address this year at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Kenneth W. Mack will address Harrisburg University’s Class of 2010 on May 20. He will also receive the degree of Doctor of Public Service honoris causa in recognition of his exceptional commitment to civil rights and social equity.

One of the country’s foremost experts on the history of Civil Rights Law, American Legal History, Civil Rights History and the Legal Construction of Racial Identity, Dr. Mack is the author of a number of scholarly articles, and is completing a book entitled Representing the Race: Creating the Civil Rights Lawyer, 1920-1955, to be published by Harvard University Press.  

Prior to pursuing his Ph.D. studies in history, he was a law clerk for Federal District Judge Robert L. Carter of the Southern District of New York, as well as a trial and appellate litigator at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.  During the first national elections in post-apartheid South Africa, he served as co-area director of election monitoring for the United States and Canada.  Before turning to law, he pursued a career as an Electrical and Computer Engineer where he designed Computer Integrated Circuits at A.T. & T. Bell Laboratories.

“Dr. Mack is an outstanding role model of excellence in leadership at the regional and national levels, and a great example of combining the value of a science and technology education and service to society,” said Dr. Mel Schiavelli, President of Harrisburg University.

Dr. Mack attended Harrisburg High School and graduated from Central Dauphin East High School in 1982.  Dr. Mack holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with high honors from Drexel University, an M.A and Ph.D. from Princeton University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.  While a student at the law school, he served with fellow student Barack Obama on the editorial staff of the Harvard Law Review.
The Harrisburg University Commencement Exercises will begin at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, May 20, 2010, at the Sunoco Performance Theater in the Whitaker Science Center, located at 222 Market Street in Harrisburg. To RSVP attendance, call 717.901.5140 or email Events@HarrisburgU.edu.

Established in 2001 to address Central Pennsylvania’s need for increased opportunities for study leading to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, Harrisburg University is an innovative and ambitious private institution that produces graduates who provide increased competence and capacity in science and technology disciplines to Pennsylvania and the nation. Harrisburg University ensures institutional access for underrepresented students and links learning and research to practical outcomes. As a private University serving the public good, Harrisburg University remains the only STEM-focused comprehensive university located between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

For more information on the University's demand-driven undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs in applied science and technology fields, call 717.901.5146 or email Connect@HarrisburgU.edu.

# # #

Established in 2001 to address Central Pennsylvania’s need for increased opportunities for study leading to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, Harrisburg University is an innovative and ambitious private institution.