President of Lawrence University
Matriculation Convocation
"A Question of Values: Community Engagement, Altruism, and
Liberal Education"
Thursday, September 22, 2005, 11:10 a.m.
A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Jill Beck received the Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism from the City University of New York. Prior to coming to Lawrence, she served as dean of the School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine from 1995 to 2003. During her tenure as dean, she founded the ArtsBridge America outreach program in art education and established the da Vinci Research Center for Learning Through the Arts, an interdisciplinary center for research focused on learning across disciplines. This is her second matriculation convocation address as Lawrence University's 15th president.