LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2009) 鈥� 农夫导航 will award 232 degrees during its annual December commencement exercises today. The graduate(s) with the highest cumulative grade point average will receive the Archbishop鈥檚 Medal of Scholastic Excellence. Ceremonies begin at 5 p.m. in Knights Hall, with a commencement address from Bob Edwards, a native of Louisville and host of 鈥淭he Bob Edwards Show鈥� on Sirius XM Radio and 鈥淏ob Edwards Weekend,鈥� distributed to public radio stations by Public Radio International (PRI).

The university will award honorary degrees of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, to Edwards and to John M. Cranor III.

Cranor, chairman and director of AFC Enterprises Inc. of Atlanta, was instrumental in helping Bellarmine establish a downtown presence as the director of the university鈥檚 Center for eBusiness, now known as CIT脡. Cranor served on Bellarmine鈥檚 Board of Trustees from 1991-2002. In addition, he served on the Board of Directors for the Louisville Community Foundation, which oversees charitable endowments that benefit non-profit organizations, in 2003. More recently, he served as chairman of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce.

Edwards serves as national first vice president of AFTRA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. And he is the author of two books: 鈥淔ridays with Red,鈥� which chronicled his radio friendship with legendary sportscaster Red Barber, and 鈥淓dward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism.鈥� Before joining Sirius XM in 2004, Edwards hosted National Public Radio鈥檚 鈥淢orning Edition鈥� for nearly 25 years.

农夫导航 is an independent Catholic university offering more than 50 majors, as well as graduate degree programs, a doctor of nursing practice and a doctor of physical therapy. Forbes.com and the Princeton Review rank Bellarmine among America鈥檚 best institutions for higher education, and U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks Bellarmine as a top tier university.

-end-