Former German Chancellor Schmidt to Speak at Rice Commencement

CONTACT: Michael Cinelli

PHONE:
(713) 831-4794

E-MAIL: mcinelli@rice.edu

FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR SCHMIDT TO SPEAK AT RICE
COMMENCEMENT

Former German Chancellor Helmut
Schmidt–a leading advocate of the European Monetary Unit (EMU) and an
influential voice in European politics and economics–will deliver the
commencement speech at Rice University on Saturday, May 15.

Commencement ceremonies will start at 8:30 a.m. in the Academic
Quadrangle. In case of inclement weather graduation ceremonies will be held in
Autry Court.

The Class of 1999 will be the 86th graduating class in Rice’s
history.

In addition to the awarding of degrees, commencement weekend
festivities will include the Class of ’99 Convocation, the Shepherd School of
Music Presidential Concert, and a presidential reception for students, guests,
faculty, staff and administration. All of these events are to be held in Alice
Pratt Brown Hall on Friday, May 14, followed by a fireworks show in the stadium
parking lot starting at 10:15 p.m.

The Student Art Exhibition in the Rice University Art Gallery
in Sewall Hall will be on display 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, May 14, and from 11
a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 15.

Schmidt was born in 1918 in Hamburg, Germany. During World War
II, he served in the German army, first in an armored division on the Eastern
Front and later in the Ardennes offensive, earning an Iron Cross. After the war,
he joined the Social Democratic Party, studied economics at the University of
Hamburg and then served in the economic and transport sector of the Hamburg
municipal government from 1949 to 1953.

Schmidt was first elected to the Bundestag, the German
legislative body, in 1953. He became the vice chairman of the Social Democratic
Party in 1968 and served in the government of Chancellor Willy Brandt as
minister of defense from 1969 to 1972 and minister of finance from 1972 to
1974.

He was elected chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany in
1974, a position he held until 1982. After stepping down from that office, he
remained active in politics as a member of the Bundestag until 1987.

Before and during his term as chancellor, Schmidt was an ardent
proponent of ‘ostpolitik’ and played a central role in turning NATO’s attention
toward the potential economic and political benefits of greater dialogue with
Eastern Europe and Russia.

He and former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing were
the two strongest advocates of the European Monetary Union, an idea that emerged
from a conference in Bremen, Germany, in 1979. The new common European medium of
exchange, the euro, was adopted by 11 nations on Jan. 1, 1999.

Although he no longer holds elective office, Schmidt maintains
an active role in German affairs as the publisher of the influential weekly
newspaper Die Zeit.

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