Honorary Degree Recipient

S. Epatha Merkerson

S. Epatha Merkerson

The Montclair State University 2013 honorary degree recipient will be Ms. S. Epatha Merkerson.  At this year’s Commencement ceremony to be held on Friday, May 24 at the IZOD Center, Ms. Merkerson will receive a Doctor of Letters, honoris causa and deliver the keynote address to the graduating class.

Ms. Merkerson is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has won a Golden Globe, an Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, an Obie Award and four NAACP Image Awards. She has also received two Tony Award nominations.  

She is best known for her role as NYPD Lieutenant Anita Van Buren from 1993 to 2010 on the long-running NBC police procedural drama series, Law & Order.  Her most recent role was in the 2012 film Lincoln in which she appeared as Lydia Hamilton Smith, housekeeper to Congressman Thaddeus Stevens.  Ms. Merkerson has recently signed on to a recurring role in the forthcoming NBC crime thriller, Deception.