April XX, 2012
Felipe Calderón, president of Mexico, will address the Class of 2012 at the 123rd Annual Commencement Ceremony of The Catholic University of America at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 12.
Catholic University's Commencement will be held outdoors on the east steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, located at 400 Michigan Ave., N.E.
CUA will award an honorary degree to President Calderón at Commencement.
Other honorary degree recipients will include Rev. Julian Carrón, leader of the lay ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation; Giuseppe Mazzotta, Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University; Carmen Ana Casal de Unanue, community leader and philanthropist; and Joseph A. Unanue, alumnus and former president and CEO of Goya Foods.
Calderón was elected to a six-year term as president in 2006. The previous president, Vicente Fox, had tapped Calderón to lead Banobras, a state-owned development bank. Subsequently Fox brought Calderón into his Cabinet as Secretary of Energy.
Calderón was educated in Mexico City, earning a bachelor's degree in law and a master's degree in economics there. He also studied at Harvard University where, in 2000, he received a master's degree in public administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Calderón has sought to implement a number of reforms since taking office. One of the most notable has been his prolonged campaign to neutralize the illegal drug cartels in Mexico that have been responsible for much violence and suffering.
In addition, President Calderón has spearheaded improvements in the areas of education, health care, and public works. He has greatly expanded access to health care for tens of millions of citizens. Access to elementary and university education has also improved. Thousands of miles of interstate highways have been added during his tenure.
Calderón's political party, known by the acronym PAN, was responsible for ending seven decades of one-party rule in Mexico in 2000. It has positive relations with the Catholic Church and Calderón himself is a practicing Catholic.
MEDIA: For more information or to make arrangements to cover the university's main commencement exercises, contact Katie Lee or Mary McCarthy in the Office of Public Affairs at 202-319-5600 or cua-public-affairs@cua.edu .
-30-