LEWISTON – NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams is one of five honorary degree recipients scheduled to speak at the 139th commencement ceremony at Bates College starting at 10 a.m. Monday, May 30, on the college’s quad in front of Coram Library.

Also being honored at the ceremony are composer Thomas Jefferson “T.J.” Anderson, theoretical biologist Lynn Margulis, entrepreneur and engineer Paul Soros and his wife, Daisy M. Soros, who heads a charitable foundation established by the couple.

Bates administrators estimate that 515 seniors will take part in commencement. The graduates represent approximately 40 states and 40 nationalities.

The Class of 2005 is one of the largest in the school’s 150-year history. The last largest class graduated in 1950 with 472 people.

If held outdoors, commencement will be open to the public. In the case of rain, the ceremony will be moved inside Merrill Gymnasium. Because of limited seating, an indoor ceremony will be reserved for graduates and their families.