4/2: For Immediate Release

Contact:
Holly Guerreiro
Interim Director, University Communications
(417) 873-7228
E-mail: hguerreiro@drury.edu

SPRINGFIELD, Mo., April 2, 2007 — Drury University will confer an honorary doctorate of humane letters to Bob Barker ’47 during the May 12 Day School Commencement ceremonies. It will be Barker’s first honorary degree. After graduating from Springfield's Central High School in 1941, Barker attended Drury on a basketball scholarship, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in economics after interrupting his education to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

After a brief radio career in Springfield and California, Barker hosted television’s Truth or Consequences from 1956–75. He debuted as host of what was then called The New Price is Right on September 4, 1972. In 1994 The Price is Right became the longest-running game show in history and is now in its 35th season.

Barker's awards and accolades include 17 Emmy Awards, with 13 for outstanding game show host. In 2004 he was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. In 1997, he became the oldest winner of an MTV Movie Award when he and Adam Sandler won the best fight award for their fisticuffs in Happy Gilmore.

Barker and his late wife, Dorothy Jo, have been leaders in the area of animal welfare. In addition to making appeals at the end of his broadcasts for pet owners to spay and neuter their pets, he founded the DJ&T Foundation, which funds animal clinics and addresses animal overpopulation issues.

Included among the 245 Day School graduates will be Candice Haines from Bentonville, Arkansas. Candice met Barker during a taping of The Price is Right, when she appeared on the show on her 18th birthday. Barker will personally confer Haines’ bachelor of business administration degree.

The commencement ceremonies will be a ticketed event; unfortunately members of the general public will not be allowed to attend. There will be approximately 500 overflow seats available at Clara Thompson Hall for those who chose to view the ceremonies on television. It also will be broadcast live on Mediacom cable channel 27 and on the Internet via the Drury website, www.drury.edu. For more information, visit www.drury.edu/commencement.

Drury University has taken the lead among private universities in the Midwest in truly integrating a liberal arts education with comprehensive professional programs. At Drury, the power of intensive faculty and staff mentoring in small-class settings creates an atmosphere of high academic expectation grounded in a supportive learning community, an ideal combination which produces leaders ready to serve in a global community.

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