POULTNEY, Vt., April 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin will deliver the commencement address at Green Mountain College's 174th graduation ceremony May 14, and receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. The ceremony is at 10 a.m. on the College's Griswold Library lawn.

Governor Shumlin is the 81st governor of Vermont. His career in public service began in Putney, Vt. almost 30 years ago when he was elected to serve on the town's selectboard at the age of 24.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University and has worked for many years in his family business, Putney Student Travel in Putney, Vt. Today, Putney Student Travel has nearly 20 full-time employees, with another 200 working around the globe during the summer months.

In 1983, Shumlin was appointed to fill an empty seat in the Vermont House of Representatives by Governor Madeleine Kunin. After three years in the House he ran for one of Windham County's two Senate seats. He was elected in 1992, and would represent Windham County for the next ten years. During his second term he was elected Democratic leader, and in 1997 his colleagues chose him to serve as president pro-tempore, the chamber's top leadership post.

The College will also present an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree to Robert H. Young and renowned writer and reporter Thomas G. Wicker.

Young has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (CVPS) since 1995. During that period, he launched a cultural and environmental transformation of the company that has led to wide national recognition for efficiency, transparency and creativity. Young will also be the speaker at the hooding ceremony for GMC master's degree graduates at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 13.

Thomas Wicker has been a dedicated reporter and incisive observer of the American scene for the past 60 years, helping millions of readers interpret the McCarthy era, the struggle for civil rights, Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, the Vietnam conflict, and Watergate. He joined the New York Times in 1960, where he covered the White House, Congress, and national politics. His award-winning book A Time to Die: The Attica Prison Revolt provides a riveting account of the Attica Correctional Facility revolt in 1971.

SOURCE Green Mountain College