John Churchill
Geneseo will confer an honorary Doctor of Humane Letter degree upon John Churchill, secretary emeritus of The Phi Beta Kappa Society, during the college’s 151st Commencement May 13.
Churchill will receive the degree during the afternoon ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m. in the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena. The morning ceremony begins at 10 a.m. in the arena.
Churchill served as Phi Beta Kappa secretary for 15 years before retiring in 2016. As the chief executive officer, the secretary is responsible to the society’s Senate for the administration of the programs and activities of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. Geneseo’s chapter is among 283 on college and university campuses advocating for excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.
Churchill also is professor and dean emeritus of Hendrix College in Arkansas, where served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college from 1984-2001. He also served twice as interim president there. An Arkansas native, Churchill attended Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College), where he captained the varsity football team.
Churchill graduated Phi Beta Kappa at Southwestern, received a Rhodes Scholarship and earned both an additional bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in philosophy and religion at the University of Oxford before earning his doctorate at Yale. He has numerous publications and presentations to his credit. His areas of scholarly expertise include Wittgenstein, Hume, the history of philosophy and religion, the history of Christianity, and religion and literature.
The keynote speaker for the undergraduate ceremony will be Geneseo alumna Molly Smith Metzler ’00, playwright, screenwriter and TV writer. She received the college’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2012.
The Master’s Ceremony is scheduled the week before, May 5, at 7 p.m. in Alice Austin Theatre. Addressing the master’s ceremony will be Beverly Burrell-Moore, elementary chief of schools for the Rochester Central School District.
The academic department ceremony times have been flipped this year. See the list of ceremony assignments, and faculty are requested to RSVP by May 1 on the commencement RSVP page on which ceremony you plan to attend so enough seats are prepared in advance. Campus Auxiliary Services will sponsor receptions for academic departments at several locations on campus after both ceremonies.