At today’s 353rd Harvard Commencement ceremony, the University will award nine honorary doctoral degrees to some of the world’s most accomplished academics and public figures.

The honorees were treated to a dinner of horseradish-encrusted filet of beef in an at-capacity Annenberg Hall last night and world-renowned violinist Stefan P. Jackiw ’07 entertained the recipients and the crowd with Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E Major.

This year’s honorary degree candidates include four scientists, three humanists and two public servants.

KOFI A. ANNAN

Kofi Annan, who will address the Class of 2004 as Commencement speaker today, currently serves as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Annan was born in Ghana on April 8, 1938 and studied economics at the University of Science and Technology in his hometown of Kumasi and completed his undergraduate work at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. before receiving a master’s degree in management at MIT.

Annan began working for the United Nations in 1962 and was promoted to Under Secretary-General in 1993. Annan began his term as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations on Jan. 1, 1997.

He shared the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize with the United Nations for his efforts in revitalizing the global organization and its efforts for peace.

Annan is currently serving his second five-year term as Secretary-General and will receive a Doctor of Laws degree today.

MARGARET E. ATWOOD

Margaret E. Atwood, a celebrated and prolific author and poet, is largely hailed as Canada’s foremost contemporary writer.

She received her B.A. from Victoria College, University of Toronto, and her A.M. from Radcliffe.

Atwood’s work is well-known for skillfully broaching subjects ranging from power, gender politics, feminism, the nature of mass society and the fate of Canada and its literature.

Her most famous novel is The Handmaid’s Tale, which is set in a futuristic American dystopia controlled by religious zealots.

Atwood will receive a Doctor of Letters degree today.