Biographer Stacy Schiff ’82 to receive an honorary degree

Acclaimed biographer Stacy Schiff ’82 says she was “tenderly taken care of” as a Williams undergraduate. In this C-SPAN interview, she recalls the college as a place where a “fabulous faculty” cultivated open minds to create “a tremendously good education in terms of writing.”

Photo by Elena Seibert

Schiff’s career proves her point. Her first book Saint-Exupéry: A Biography, was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize. Her second,Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov): Portrait of a Marriage, won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize. She is the author as well of the award winning A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. Her most recent book, Cleopatra: A Life, was published in 2010 to universal acclaim. The New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani called it captivating, “…far more complex and compelling than any fictional creation.”

For these and many other accomplishments as a leading writer of her generation, Schiff will receive an honorary degree from her alma mater and deliver the baccalaureate at Williams’ 224th Commencement.

Learn more about Stacy Schiff and her fellow 2013 honorary degree recipients and find detailed Williams Commencement information here.