Jack D. Rehm
Doctor of Humane Letters
Welcome home, alumnus and good friend.
It was 63 years ago that you arrived from Yonkers at the gates of Linden Lane, and joined the Class of 1954. Your senior thesis—"The Ethics of Advertising"—gives a hint of what the business world could expect.
With diploma in hand, you launched your stellar career, culminating in the leadership at media giant Meredith Corporation, where you ascended from magazine advertising sales to president and chairman of the board. During your nearly four decades' tenure-a time which coincided with dramatic changes in how we consume news and information-you introduced the innovations and enhancements that strengthened the more than 100 publications and 12 television stations under your charge. In recognition of your achievements, you were chosen chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America. For your wisdom and guidance, you earned Publisher of the Year honors and the magazine industry's highest praise, the John Henry Fisher Award.
Being a good neighbor to Des Moines, home to Meredith's corporate headquarters, was a priority for you. You reaped well-deserved tributes as a key player in urban renewal, expansion, and new life and opportunity in that city, including induction into Iowa's Business Hall of Fame.
You are a wise and faithful leader of Holy Cross: former Trustee, Advisory Board member, and former national chairman of our most successful campaign, "Lift High the Cross." In this role, you indeed inspired the entire Holy Cross Community to new heights-adding up to a record $215 million investment in our students, faculty, academic programs, and facilities. You have also co- chaired your class gift committee through an extraordinary five reunions.
It is only fitting then that your love of and commitment to Holy Cross are apparent to all on our campus. Your gift to the College is Rehm Library, a much-loved campus space in Smith Hall for study, reflection, and learning. It is also the site for thought-provoking lectures by visiting scholars as part of the programming of the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture; for campus debate and the exchange of ideas. A place where inquiry and faith co-exist, it is no accident that Rehm Library stands at the very heart of our lives on Mount St. James-literally at the vertical and horizontal center of campus.
With Cynthia, you have raised four beloved children, three of whom followed you to Linden Lane, where a grandson who bears your name now walks. We join your loved ones and your colleagues in the publishing, business, and civic worlds in praising and honoring your lifetime of noble service.
That all may know our gratitude and pride in your astute leadership, your commitment to alma mater, and the many ways you have so generously given to ensure the lasting strength and power of our Jesuit, liberal arts education, the College of the Holy Cross confers upon you this day the degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.