UPDATEDCorrection appended

David Brooks, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, will be the keynote speaker at Brandeis' 60th commencement Sunday, May 22, according to a campuswide e-mail from University President Frederick Lawrence.

In an interview with the Justice, Senior Vice President for Communications and External Affairs Andrew Gully said that Grammy Award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform at the ceremony. Honorary degrees will also be awarded to Thomas Buergenthal, former member of the International Court of Justice; federal judge Judge Nancy Gertner; Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris and University President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz, in addition to Brooks and Ma.

Brooks began as a columnist at The New York Times in 2003 and has been a senior editor at The Weekly Standard and a contributing editor at Newsweek and the Atlantic Monthly, according to The New York Times.

In an interview with the Justice, Lawrence said, "I think [Brooks] is an extraordinary, thoughtful public intellectual. Sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I don't, but I always find him interesting and thought-provoking."

Gully wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, "Any members of the university community can nominate a candidate for honorary degrees. A committee of faculty, trustees and staff review all nominations and submits a narrowed list to the Board of Trustees for review and approval." According to Gully, the president selects the commencement speaker from that narrowed list.

Brooks is also currently a commentator on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, NPR's All Things Considered and The Diane Rehm Show.

Brooks authored several books, of which the most recent, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement, was published in March.

Ma is "strongly committed to educational programs that bring young audiences into contact with music and go beyond that by allowing them to participate in its creation," according to BrandeisNOW.

According to The New York Times, Ma is "one of the preeminent classical musicians in the world" and has made more than 75 albums and won 15 Grammy Awards.

Following the announcement regarding the commencement honorees, Andy Hogan '11 created a Facebook event titled "Let's Ask Yo-Yo Ma to Play at Graduation"; last year, musician and honorary degree recipient Paul Simon played at commencement after a similar student-led effort.

In an April 15 interview with the Justice, Gully said that Ma would play at the commencement ceremony. According to Gully, University officials had already discussed the possibility of a performance with Ma before the Facebook group was formed; however, Gully said that Ma "would be glad" that students were looking forward to his performance.

Buergenthal "is considered one of the world's leading international human rights experts," according to BrandeisNOW. He survived the Holocaust, and authored or co-authored over a dozen books, according to the George Washington University Law School website.

He served on the International Court of Justice in The Hague from 2000 to 2010.

Buergenthal served as dean of Washington College of Law at American University and had endowed professorships at the University of Texas and Emory University, where he was also the director of the Human Rights Program of the Carter Center, according to the GWU website.

Gertner, a federal judge since 1994, will retire from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in September and will then become a professor at Harvard Law School, according to BrandeisNOW.

She has also taught at Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, Boston College Law School and the Boston University Law School.

Morris "is widely recognized as one of the world's best and most innovative filmmakers," according to BrandeisNOW.

He won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for The Fog of War, a profile of former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara.

Morris has screened his films at the University in years past; last semester, he spoke and held a preview screening for his documentary Tabloid.

Reinharz was the seventh president of the University and is a scholar in the field of Jewish history. He received his Ph.D. in modern Jewish history from Brandeis in 1972 and established the program in Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan.

Reinharz served on the Brandeis faculty from 1982 until he became the provost in 1991. He was named president of the University in 1994 and served in that capacity until Lawrence succeeded him on Jan. 1, 2011.

According to BrandeisNOW, "Reinharz has awarded more honorary Brandeis degrees to other people than anyone in university history save founding President Abram L. Sachar."

Sara Dejene and Emily Kraus contributed reporting.

This is an updated version of the article originally published April 13th.

Correction: This article formerly misstated a quotation. University President Frederick Lawrence said "Sometimes I agree with [Brooks], sometimes I don't," not "Sometimes I agree with [Brooks]. I don't."