Wayne State University Professor Ronald Aronson made his first of three journeys to South Africa 15 years ago to conduct research and lecture in a country ravaged by apartheid. Last week he returned to the country's fourth largest university to receive one of its highest honors and to address the 2002 graduating class.

The University of Natal, Durban, South Africa, invited Aronson back to honor him with an honorary Aronson's first ties to South Africa and the University of Natal occurred in 1987 and 1990 while he was serving as a guest lecturer. He often spoke about the nature of political commitment, a subject that has been one of his lifelong passions, and a critical topic for a country that was struggling under apartheid rule.

Doctor of Laws degree for his scholarly and political contributions to South Africa.

In his book titled Stay Out of Politics: A Philosopher Views South Africa (Chicago, 1990), Aronson recounted his experiences in South Africa and examined the effort to end apartheid in the latter 1980's.

A native Detroiter, Aronson received his bachelor's degree in history from Wayne State before completing master's and doctoral degrees at Brandeis University.

During the period of political activism in the 1960's, he became a community organizer in the African American neighborhood of New Brunswick, N.J., and an editor of the journal Studies on the Left.

In 1968, while working on his doctoral dissertation, he participated in the "Freedom School" organized in the aftermath of the student strike at Columbia University.

His career at Wayne State began in 1968, first at the university's former Monteith College, and since 1978 in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program of the College of Lifelong Learning.

A leading scholar on Jean-Paul Sartre and existentialism, Aronson has served as executive director of Sartre Studies International and a member of the executive committee of the Sartre Society of North America. He was also a founding editor of the journal Sartre Studies International.

Aronson is currently president of Wayne State's Academy of Scholars. Academy members are chosen from the most productive and widely recognized scholars at the university.