EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University will award honorary degrees to five distinguished individuals at its 149th annual commencement exercises Friday, June 15.

Award-winning actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus Hall, who attended the School of Communication, will receive an honorary doctor of arts degree and will address graduates, parents and guests at the 6 p.m. ceremony in Ryan Field.

Honorary degrees also will be presented to:

• John W. Baldwin, the Charles Homer Haskins Professor of History Emeritus at Johns Hopkins University. Doctor of Humane Letters

• Joan S. Brugge, professor and chair of cell biology at Harvard Medical School. Doctor of Science

• Lambert Ben Freund, the Henry Ledyard Goddard University Professor in the Division of Engineering at Brown University. Doctor of Science

• Fred Wilson, nationally renowned New York-based artist. Doctor of Fine Arts

In the event of severe weather, the ceremony will be held in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tickets are required for admission to both the Ryan Field and Welsh-Ryan Arena venues.

Commencement activities will include the President's Reception at Norris University Center for graduates and their families and guests at noon June 15. Baccalaureate services will be held at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. in Alice Millar Chapel.

Free continuous shuttle bus service will be provided between the campus and Ryan Field/McGaw Hall from 2:30 to 9 p.m. June 15 and from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 16, the day schools and colleges hold their convocations.

The convocation schedule and speakers are as follows:

Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science: Welsh-Ryan Arena, 8:30 a.m. Alumnus Robert Taggart, chief executive officer, Chaparral Communications.

School of Education and Social Policy: Cahn Auditorium, 9 a.m. Alumna Edith Howard Bostic, winner of 2007 Northwestern University Service Award.

School of Music: Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 9 a.m. Ara Guzelimian, provost and dean, The Juilliard School.

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences: Welsh-Ryan Arena, 11 a.m. Michael Sherry, Richard Leopold Professor of History, Northwestern University.

School of Continuing Studies: Alice Millar Chapel, noon. Alumna Marlena Miglin, chief operating officer, Miglin Cosmetics.

Medill School of Journalism: Cahn Auditorium, 1:30 p.m. Cathleen Black, president, Hearst Magazines.

School of Communication (communication studies and communication sciences and disorders): Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 1:30 p.m. Alumna Renetta McCann, chief executive officer of Starcom MediaVest Group Worldwide.

Kellogg School of Management: Welsh-Ryan Arena, 3:30 p.m. William Perez, chief executive officer, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.

School of Communication (dance, interdepartmental studies, performance studies, radio/television/film, theatre): Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 5 p.m. Alumna Renetta McCann, chief executive officer of Starcom MediaVest Group Worldwide.

I think it signified the end of the 20th Century.

-Professor Peter Hayes on the Fall of the Berlin Wall