Chairman of the Board of Trustees Kevin W. Kennedy '70 presented Paul Kellogg for an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters:
"Among the cultural institutions of New York State in which we take justifiable pride are the New York City Opera and Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown. Both also feature a repertoire that is a refreshing mix of the familiar, the long neglected, and the new, and which include an increasing core of American works. Those similarities are by no means accidental, for both owe their great and growing distinction to your direction, to the stamp you have placed on them.
A native Californian, you majored in comparative literature at the University of Texas and taught French for a while after attending the Sorbonne. In 1979, you joined Glimmerglass Opera, and as its general director you supervised the construction and opening of its splendid Alice Busch Theater. You also inaugurated summer seasons of vibrant new productions innovatively staged, wonderfully directed, and beautifully sung. In 1996, you took on a new and daunting task as general and artistic director of the City Opera. After shoring up its perilous finances, and addressing its physical problems, you began to work your artistic magic. You offered audiences the full range of opera, and opera as good theater, and they responded with enthusiasm to your revitalized repertoire.
Besides breathing new life and strength into the City Opera, your vision and daring has continued to be felt at Glimmerglass, where you remain artistic director. Now in its 28th season, it has become a premier cultural jewel of our state, attracting highly appreciative audiences each summer from near and far. Truly, through your twin achievements, you have earned an honored place not only in New York's cultural annals but the nation's as well.
Paul Kellogg, acting on the authority of the Board of Trustees, I am very pleased to confer on you the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters of Hamilton College, admitting you to all its rights and privileges. In token whereof, we present you with this diploma and invest you with this hood."
