By MATEA WASEND

Macalester’s own DeWitt Wallace Professor of Anthropology Jack Weatherford will deliver the commencement speech for the school’s 2012 graduation ceremony. Weatherford, who has taught at Macalester since 1983, was nominated for the role because he “embodies what Macalester is about with his scholarship and his global citizenship,” said President Brian Rosenberg. Weatherford and his wife are legal residents of Mongolia, where he has concentrated his work in recent years. He was recently honored for his scholarly contributions to Mongolian culture with the publication of two books, including international bestseller Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Mongolia recently announced the creation of a foundation and prize in honor of Weatherford which will be awarded annually to the author of the best work of scholarship about Mongolian history or culture written in the Mongolian language. According to his website, Weatherford worked with contemporary groups in places like Bolivia and the Amazon before shifting his attention to Mongolia, focusing on “the relationship of tribal people to the larger societies around them and to world history.” Weatherford’s speech will mark not only the passage of 2012 graduates but also his own departure from Macalester, as he plans to retire after the spring semester. “I feel as though I am graduating—finally after 28 years at Macalester,” Weatherford wrote in an email. “Like most graduating seniors, I am hopeful but a bit nervous about the future. I hope that my best work is yet to come.” refresh –>