WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) – Actress and William & Mary alumna Glenn Close will be speaking at the university’s 2019 commencement ceremony.
Close, who received an honorary degree from the university in 1989, is also slated to receive an honorary fellowship at the ceremony. She will be the third person to receive this honor – after Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1981 and Princess Margriet of the Netherlands in 1989.
Close has been nominated for seven Acamedy Awards in her career – perhaps most famously for her role as Alex Forrest in “Fatal Attraction”. She’s also been nominated for several Golden Globes, and has won three times.
The 2019 commencement will also mark the first for President Katherine A. Rowe, who was inaugurated as the university’s first female president in February.
The university will award honorary degrees to philanthropist Jane Batten, opera singer Denyce Graves and pioneering women’s rights attorney Sybil Shainwald.
Rowe said in a statement Tuesday, “It is our great pleasure to welcome these four accomplished women to William & Mary for Commencement.”
“This quartet has made their marks in the arts, philanthropy, law and women’s health; they exemplify the creative, pioneering spirit we have been celebrating throughout the year. I very much look forward to sharing the day with them.”
-President Katherine A. Rowe
William & Mary’s 2019 commencement is scheduled for May 11, 2019 at Zable Stadium.
