Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, will be the principal speaker and the recipient of an honorary degree at the University of Notre Dame’s 168th Commencement Ceremony on May 19.

Cardinal Dolan was named archbishop of New York by Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 23, 2009, after serving for the previous seven years as archbishop of Milwaukee.

He was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Nov. 16, 2010. Pope Benedict elevated him to cardinal on Jan. 6, 2012.

Cardinal Dolan was ordained to the priesthood on June 19, 1976. He then served as associate pastor at Immacolata Parish in Richmond Heights, Mo., until 1979 when he began studies for a doctorate in American church history at The Catholic University of America. His doctoral dissertation is on the life and ministry of the late Archbishop Edwin O’Hara, a founder of the Catholic Biblical Association.

Cardinal Dolan served as chairman of Catholic Relief Services from January 2009 to November 2010. He currently is a member of the board of trustees of The Catholic University of America and a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

The 2013 University Commencement Ceremony will take place in Notre Dame Stadium beginning at 9 a.m.