An internationally acclaimed social entrepreneur, a prominent philanthropist, an expert on jazz and world music and Chicago’s first female city planning director are among the honorary degree recipients at a series of commencement ceremonies for DePaul University in May and June.

Nine DePaul colleges and schools will award diplomas to approximately 4,800 students at graduation ceremonies that will be held on May 18, June 14 and June 15.

Here is the line-up of ceremonies and speakers:

May 18, 2 p.m., DePaul College Of Law Commencement: Robert A. Clifford, principal partner in a nationally recognized law firm and a former chairman of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section of Litigation, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree from DePaul’s College of Law at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago.

Clifford is the principal partner of the Clifford Law Offices, a Chicago-based personal injury law firm. He is the current chair of the ABA’s task force on terrorism and the law, and he served in an advisory role to develop the government’s compensation benefits formula for surviving family members of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. A past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, he has provided counsel in some of the nation’s most noted personal injury and aviation cases.

June 14, 9 a.m., Barat College Commencement: The Rev. Virgilio P. Elizondo, founder and president of San Antonio’s Mexican-American Cultural Center, will receive an honorary degree and give the keynote address for Barat College of DePaul. Elizondo is the co-director of the Hispanic Churches in Public Life research project, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts. He is also the director of programming for Catholic Television of San Antonio, the founder of the Incarnate Word Pastoral Institute at that city’s University of the Incarnate Word and a visiting professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. The ceremony will take place on the Barat front lawn, 700 E. Westleigh Road, in Lake Forest, Ill.

June 14, 9 a.m., DePaul School of Education Commencement: James A. Banks, the Russell F. Stark University Professor and director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, Seattle, will deliver the commencement address for the School of Education graduation ceremony at the Civic Opera House. Banks is a national authority in the fields of multicultural and social studies education. He has written or edited 18 books in these areas on a range of topics. His “Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education” won the 1997 National Book Award from the National Association of Multicultural Education. In 2001, the National Council for the Social Studies honored him with a career achievement award.

June 14, noon, Combined DePaul School of Music and Theatre School Commencements: An educator, author, lecturer and chronicler of world music, Paul Berliner will receive an honorary degree at DePaul’s School of Music and Theatre School commencement ceremony. Berliner is the author of the influential 1994 book "Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation," which was the result of 15 years' worth of research and exploration into musical theory in the genre. He is also professor of ethnomusicology at Northwestern University. The ceremony will be held at the Civic Opera House.

June 14, 3 p.m., DePaul School for New Learning Commencement: Elizabeth Hollander, a pioneer of the concept of service learning, will deliver the commencement address and earn an honorary degree at the graduation ceremony for DePaul’s School for New Learning. Hollander is the executive director of Campus Compact, a coalition of more than 880 college and university presidents committed to promoting community service and developing students’ citizenship skills. Previously, she served as executive director of DePaul's Egan Urban Center, which addresses critical urban problems and social justice issues. In the 1980s, she was appointed by the late Mayor Harold Washington to become Chicago’s first female director of planning. The ceremony will be held at the Civic Opera House.

June 15, 9 a.m., DePaul College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Commencement: Richard J. Meister, executive vice president for academic affairs at DePaul, will deliver the graduation address at the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Commencement. Meister began his 23-year-career at DePaul as the dean of this college and is retiring next month to return to teaching. He has served as the visionary and principal strategist behind DePaul's transformation from a commuter school to the nation’s largest Catholic university while embracing DePaul’s commitment to accessibility, service and academic innovation. The ceremony will be held at the Allstate Arena, 6920 N. Mannheim Road in Rosemont, Ill.

June 15, 12:30 p.m., DePaul School of Computer Science, Telecommunication and Information Systems (CTI) Commencement: Rodrigo Baggio, recognized international social entrepreneur, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree from CTI. Baggio is the founder and executive director of the Committee for Democracy in Information Technology, a Brazilian-based organization that is bridging the "digital divide" by providing technology training for low-income children. The organization has set up 770 schools in 11 countries and has educated more than 60,000 students worldwide. Baggio was named by Time Magazine as one of the 50 "Latin American Leaders for the Next Millennium." The ceremony will be held at the Allstate Arena.

June 15, 4 p.m., DePaul College of Commerce Commencement: John E. Hughes, chairman and CEO of the Coleman Foundation, will receive an honorary degree from the College of Commerce. A noted philanthropist, Hughes, through his foundation work, has supported educational programs that help aspiring entrepreneurs, medical programs that help cancer patients and social programs that assist persons with disabilities. The foundation has distributed more than $95 million in grants during its half-century of existence.

Fred Luthans, the George Holmes Distinguished Professor of Management at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, also will receive an honorary degree from the college. Luthans has written more than 30 books on organizational behavior and international management. The ceremony will be held at the Allstate Arena.

In addition, DePaul will hold its first-ever commencement in the Czech Republic June 28. Eighteen students enrolled in DePaul's MBA program offered at the Czech Management Center near Prague will receive DePaul diplomas from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. The program, which focuses on marketing and finance, was launched in January of 2002 and primarily enrolls Czech professionals who work for multinational companies. DePaul's two other overseas MBA programs, in Hong Kong and Bahrain, hosted graduation ceremonies in December and January.

DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the eighth-largest private university in the nation. A richly diverse population of 23,227 students attend classes on two city and five suburban campuses.