The University will confer honorary degrees on 11 individuals--including two winners of the National Medal of Science, a former fellow of the Harvard Corporation, a top adviser to President John F. Kennedy '40 and a political and social philosopher--at today's Commencement exercises. Eight men and three women will be honored.

John L. Ashbery '49, Ela R. Bhatt, Geoffrey Canada, Jürgen Habermas, Isabella L. Karle, Leon Kirchner, Alice M. Rivlin, Robert E. Rubin '60, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. '38, Richard A. Smith and Charles H. Townes will receive the degrees.

The honorands ate last night at Annenberg Hall to music performed by Yo-Yo Ma '76 and members of the Harvard University Choir. They dined on smoked salmon, veal loin with Madeira sauce and tomato with turnip purée, with an almond tuile basket for dessert.

JOHN L. ASHBERY '49

One of America's leading poets, Ashbery, 93, is known for the distinctive American voice that characterizes his poetry. Harvard will award him an honorary Doctorate of Letters today.

Ashberry is currently a professor of languages and literature at Bard College. He delivered the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard during the 1989-1990 academic year.

Ashbery, the author of 20 books, is a Fulbright Scholar, a two-time Guggenheim Fellow and a MacArthur "genius" fellow. In 1975, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. He is also a winner of the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In January, he was named the New York state poet.