The School of Communications will hold a convocation at 11:45 a.m. in the Cook-DeWitt Center on the Allendale campus, during which Thomas will receive an honory doctorate.
Helen Thomas is among the world's leading journalists, says Alex Nesterenko, director of the School of Communications. Her contributions over the past 40 years to the field of journalism and to the American conscience are indeed significant, and have earned her the title 'Dean of White House Correspondents.' She embodies the best that journalism has to offer, and she serves as an inspirational role model for young journalists.
Thomas was born and raised in Detroit, where she attended public schools and eventually earned a degree from Wayne State University. Her first job after college was with the now defunct Washington Daily News. She joined United Press International in 1943, and has been a member of the Washington Press Corps ever since.
She was the first woman officer of the National Press Club, and later became the first woman officer and the first woman president of the White House Correspondents Association.
A frequent lecturer on the White House and the Presidency, Thomas has been a commencement speaker at many colleges and universities. Her honor at GVSU on March 30 will be her twenty-ninth honorary doctorate degree.
