George Herbert Walker Bush has served his country both in war and peace, in the military and in civic affairs. His career is marked by a keen diplomatic sense, a strong work ethic, political tenaciousness, loyalty to his colleagues, unpretentious charm and love for his adopted state of Texas.

George Bush graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he served an earlier presidency, that of the senior class. In 1942 he joined the U.S. Navy, becoming the youngest bomber pilot in that branch of service, and later received the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1948 he graduated from Yale University with a major in economics. Excelling in both academics and athletics, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was captain of the baseball team.

President Bush's long history in politics began with a campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1964. He won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966 and was re-elected in 1968. President Nixon appointed him Ambassador to the United Nations in 1971 and Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1973. President Gerald R. Ford appointed him chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Peking, People's Republic of China, in 1974. Mr. Bush returned to Washington in 1975 to direct the CIA, where he won praise for restoring morale. He served for eight years as Vice President in the Reagan Administration, during which time he visited more than 70 countries on diplomatic missions. In 1988 he was elected to the nation's highest office.

For his role as concerned citizen and public servant and President of the United States, Southern Methodist University is pleased to confer upon President George Bush the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.