"Greenspan can inform us about a wide range of things, from the changing role of the US in the world economy to the process of policy formation in Washington," Feldstein said.

"He's a man who's had experience in government now over several decades, so he brings a long term view of economic issues and of the way Washington works," he added.

In the past, Greenspan has been appointed to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the Commission on Financial Structure and Regulation, the Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force and the Task Force on Economic Growth.

In 1948, Greenspan graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in economics from New York University. He received a masters degree in economics in 1950, and a Ph.D. in economics in 1977, also from NYU. Greenspan has performed advanced graduate study at Columbia University.

Each year, the Harvard Alumni Association chooses a speaker for the Commencement Day's afternoon meeting, which occurs after degrees have been conferred on Commencement Day. This Commencement will be the 348th held by the University.

Recent Commencement speakers include Mary Robinson, U.N High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, Harold Varmus, director of the National Institutes of Health, Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic, and Vice President Al Gore '69.