Army surgeon general, Washington Post executive editor to receive honorary degrees

The surgeon general of the U.S. Army and The Washington Post’s executive editor will receive honorary degrees at Commencement in May, the University announced Monday.

Marty Baron of The Post and Lt. Gen. Nadja West will receive honorary degrees of doctor of public service at the ceremony, as will Commencement speaker Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., according to the release.

“We are honored to celebrate these distinguished and accomplished leaders who have shown a remarkable commitment to public service,” University President Steven Knapp said in the release. “They will be an inspiration to our graduates as they embark on their futures as the citizen leaders our university strives to contribute to the nation and the world.”

Duckworth, who was named speaker last month, will receive the degree after her work fighting for veterans in Congress and a lengthy service career herself.

West, who is an alumna and the first black Army Surgeon General, earned a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in October. She also will speak to School of Medicine and Health Sciences graduates at commencement.

Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post and a Pulitzer-prize winner, will be awarded the honorary degree after overseeing investigative stories like The Boston Globe’s uncovering of the Catholic priests sexual abuse scandal, that inspired the movie “Spotlight,” and a project that catalogued each killing by a police officer in 2015 in the U.S.