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Date:April 9, 1998
Ruth Harkin to Join Sen. Tom Harkin in Giving Baccalaureate Address
Couple’s appearance to honor 25th anniversary of coeduation
Princeton, N.J.&endash;Ruth Harkin, senior vice president at United Technologies Corporation, will join her husband, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, in giving the baccalaureate address to the Class of 1998. The couple’s daughter, Amy Harkin, is a member of the graduating class. The baccalaureate service, set for Sunday, May 31, at 2 p.m., marks the official end of the academic year at Princeton.
Last week, after Sen. Harkin accepted Princeton’s invitation to be the baccalaureate speaker, he learned that the weekend preceding graduation will mark the 25th reunion for the Class of 1973, which includes the first group of women admitted as first-year students. Sen. Harkin then asked University President Harold T. Shapiro if he and Ruth Harkin could make a joint address, which they have done in the past. President Shapiro warmly accepted Sen. Harkin’s suggestion.
This is the first time two people will give Princeton’s baccalaureate address. Once called the sermon, the baccalaureate address is one of the University’s oldest traditions. The University president formerly served as both baccalaureate and commencement speaker. Today, the president makes the commencement address only and invites the baccalaureate speaker after consulting with the senior class and other members of the University community. The baccalaureate address is part of an interfaith worship service that takes place in the University Chapel two days before commencement.
The Harkins are both graduates of Catholic University School of Law. Ruth Harkin is the senior vice president for International Affairs and Government Relations at United Technologies Corporation and is the chair of United Technologies International. She is the company’s highest-ranking female executive. Prior to joining UTC, Harkin was president and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, an independent corporation owned by the U.S. government. She was appointed by President Clinton in 1993 and served for four years. She has worked as an attorney in private practice, as deputy general counsel to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and as one of the first elected female prosecutors in the nation.
Sen. Tom Harkin, now in his third term in the U.S. Senate, is the author of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark law that that protects the civil rights of more than 49 million Americans with physical or mental disabilities.
As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Harkin has worked to protect the interests of rural farmers he represents. A member of the Appropriations Committee, he has supported education funding, including efforts to give all Americans a chance to attend college. Harkin is also an advocate for making health care accessible to all and for ending waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.
The Harkins have two daughters, Amy and Jenny.