Duquesne University to honor the legacy of Fred Rogers at commencement

Duquesne University will honor the legacy of the late Fred Rogers at 2019 undergraduate commencement ceremonies on May 10.

University officials said Maxwell King, the author of “The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers,” and Joanne Byrd Rogers, the widow of the renowned children’s television pioneer, will both receive honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees at the 3 p.m. undergraduate ceremony at PPG Paints Arena.

King, a former Philadelphia Inquirer editor who has led the Pittsburgh Foundation since 2014, was founding director of the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College in Unity. He will give the commencement address. Joanne Rogers also will give remarks.

Rogers, a concert pianist, is chair emerita of The Fred Rogers Company Board of Directors — the nonprofit organization her husband founded in 1971. She also is honorary chair of the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media’s advisory council.

Duquesne President Ken Gormley also will address graduates at commencement for undergraduates and the noon ceremony for graduate students.