As a student, Harry Elam remembers how impressed he was by the accomplishments of Nobles distinguished graduates. A man of multiple talents, Harry now joins his illustrious predecessors with his own stellar list of accomplish­ ments. As Christensen Professor for the Humanities and Associate Profes­ sor of Drama in the School of Human­ ities and Sciences at Stanford Universi­ ty, Harry has achieved distinction for his teaching, curricular innovation,  as a theater director and a community project supervisor. His awards include: the Eisner Prize for Creative Achievement of the Highest order in Dramatic Art at the University of Cali­ fornia, at Berkeley; a Bing Teaching Award; the Black Community Service Center Outstanding Teacher  Award; and the Lilian and Thomas B. Rhodes Prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching at Stanford.

The seeds of his success were sown at Nobles where he was president of the Student Life Council, nurtured at Harvard where he was the undergraduate commencement speaker  and  honed at the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a  Master of Arts and  a  Ph.D. in Dramatic Arts. His doctoral dissertation titled Theater for Social Change was another step in his life-long passion of using theatre as a medium for articulating social causes and directing audiences to social action.

This passion first evidenced itself at Nobles in 1971 when Harry and other black students from Nobles and Beaver Country Day School organized The Family , a black youth drama organization whose plays focused on unity, self-respect, and community responsibility. The Family theater experience impressed upon Hany what a powerful political, social and cultural tool the theater could be.

A prolific writer, Harry has two books to his credit with a third in progress: Colored Contradictions: An Anthology of Contemporary Aji·ican American Drama co­ edited with Robert Alexander; Taking It to the Streets: The Social Protest Theater of Amiri Baraka and Luis Valdez; and (W)Righting History: The Past and Present in the Drama of August Wil­ son. He is recognized as an expert in the field of social protest theater, has directed  18 plays and  has appeared in 11 stage productions. Harry is also widely published in professional the­ ater journals.

At Stanford, Harry has been instrumental in illuminating the African-American  experience   not only for his students but also for the community at large. In 1995  a  pro­ ject he undertook in the troubled community of East Palo Alto caught the attention of  The Christian  Sci­ ence Monitor. Headlined "Stanford Theater: Race Relations 101·, it described the collaboration between the university and East Palo Alto res­ idents. The resulting documentary

'Dreams of a City: Creating East Palo Alto" revealed what members of that community were thinking about, what they learned about themselves, how they turned their community around and in the process developed a more positive relationship with Stanford.

As much as Nobles has influenced  Harry Elam's life, so too have his family, mentors and friends who describe him as warm, sensitive, genuine, honest and kind, steeped in his racial identity - an intellectual and an activist with an ability to relate to people of all persuasions.  Based  on his own personal philosophy, he is also a role model for his students - "Be focused as you  can  be  in  what you want to achieve and go for it." Harry has done just that.

In recognition of his professional achievements as a teacher, scholar, writer, theater director and actor and for using these vehicles to give voice to the concerns of dis­ advantaged communities, we are proud to present him with the 1999 Distinguished Graduate Award.

- Excepted from the citation read at the Members of the Corporation Dinner on October 15, 1999 at which time Elam accepted the 1999 Distinguished Graduate Award.