James D. Wolfensohn, the Australian-born president of the World Bank Group, will deliver the keynote address at the University's 53rd commencement exercises on May 23, according to a University spokesperson.NAACP President Kweisi Mfume joins Wolfensohn and five other individuals selected to receive honorary degrees at the afternoon ceremony.

Reaction to the keynote speaker was mixed and students were quick to envision the possibility of an on-campus demonstration against globalization, which has become synonymous with the World Bank.

"My first reaction was, 'Will there be protests?'" Julie Sarke '04 said after learning of commencement roster.

Wolfensohn, 70, is no stranger to protest. Earlier this month, anti-globalization activists belted him with a paint-filled egg in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Mfume was elected president of NAACP in 1996, giving up his seat in the House of Representatives after 10 years representing a Maryland district. An ardent Democrat, Mfume is credited with helping to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act and served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Buffalo News reported that Mfume, a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, participated in a debate at SUNY Buffalo last Wednesday, where he received loud applause after saying the American policy to "bomb, bomb, bomb-even though nobody attacked us-and then build, build, build," hasn't worked since World War II.

"Our schools have crumbling infrastructure," he said Wednesday. "Whether you believe in the war or not, let's apply our resources locally."

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, a biologist at the University of California at San Francisco and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is also slated to receive an honorary degree.

Blackburn was propelled to scientific stardom in 1984 after she and Carol Greider discovered the enzyme telomerase, a key to developing cancer-fighting treatments. Her achievements led to numerous awards and a seat on President Bush's council of bioethics.

But Blackburn, an outspoken advocate of stem cell research, was fired from the committee last month. White House officials told USA Today that Blackburn's 2-year term expired in January and she wasn't invited back because of the committee's shifting focus, away from stem cells and into behavior and neurology.

In her defense, 170 scientists signed an open letter to President Bush protesting Blackburn's firing.

Other honorary degree recipients include Henry Crown, the chairman of Henry Crown and Company, the director of the appliance brand Maytag Corp., and an active civic leader, heading up the Children's Memorial Medical Center and its Foundation.

Degrees will also be presented to Richard J. Goldstone, a judge on South Africa's Constitutional Court, who presided over war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia; the philanthropist and businessman Bernard Osher whose foundation has contributed to a range of community-building efforts in the San Francisco Bay area and Maine; and acclaimed German artist Anslem Kiefer, who is known for his epic-scale paintings and installations, many of which confront recent German cultural history, including Nazism.

To seniors, many of whom will have their families watching on from the bleachers in Gosman Sports and Convocation Center, the commencement speaker is generally regarded as the highlight of the ceremony.

"I think it's an opportunity for people to hear someone they normally wouldn't," Dahlia Metchis '04 said.

But Sarke said the choice of Wolfensohn was a poor one, alluding to the possibility of protests.

"They always pick speakers who aren't in any way connected with the students," she said.

Wolfensohn, an amateur cellist who performed at a benefit in November of last year with Yo-Yo Ma, has had a full roster of speaking engagements since the launch of the World Bank's new image-boosting campaign, which includes speeches at NYU and Yale, in addition to several radio addresses.

The son of Jewish parents, Wolfensohn graduated in the top of his class in primary school, but finished high school ranked 123rd of 130.

"I failed every subject in my first year at university," he told The Australian Financial Review in November 2003. He finished undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney and went on to receive and M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.