Ambassador to Korea to Speak at UA Commencement Aug. 11

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Thomas C. Hubbard, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea and a 1965 graduate of The University of Alabama, will return to campus as the featured speaker at UA’s summer commencement ceremony Monday, Aug. 11, at Coleman Coliseum.

Hubbard will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree during the 9 a.m. ceremony. Approximately 1,000 degrees will be conferred.

Sworn in as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea in August 2001, Hubbard arrived in Korea to assume his duties on Sept. 11, 2001. Prior to his nomination as ambassador, Hubbard was principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and before that he served concurrently as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines and to the Republic of Palau.

Born in Kentucky, Hubbard earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UA, where he was selected for Phi Beta Kappa. He joined the Foreign Service following graduation and served as a political/economic officer in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and later received language training at the Foreign Service Institute in Yokohama, Japan. Hubbard has previously been assigned to positions at U.S. embassies in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Manila, Republic of the Philippines.

Also during the ceremony, Gloria Narramore Moody, a longtime patron of the arts, will receive the Julia and Henry Tutwiler Award, UA’s most prestigious award for volunteer service to UA and the people of Alabama.

For more information on the ceremony, go to the Commencement Web site at www.registrar.ua.edu/commencement.