The University of Washington Board of Regents will be asked to approve honorary doctorate degrees for three members of the Gates family at the board's meeting Sept. 18.

The UW administration, on behalf of the faculty, will recommend the awarding of honorary doctor of humane letters degrees to William H. Gates Sr., William H. Gates III and Melinda French Gates.

If the degrees are approved, they will be presented to Bill Gates Sr. and Bill Gates at the UW's Freshman Convocation Sunday, Sept. 21. Melinda Gates' schedule prevents her from participating in this fall's convocation.

Bill Gates Sr. has had a distinguished legal career that has spanned four decades. He has been a trustee, officer or volunteer for more than two dozen regional and national organizations, including the Municipal League, Planned Parenthood, the Seattle Repertory Theater, United Way, the Technology Alliance and the UW. He has been co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest philanthropic organization, for 15 years. "The work of the Gates Foundation indelibly bears the mark of the Gates family and its patriarch -- it is their intellect, vision, philosophy and deep engagement that empower the Foundation to accomplish its work," according to the action item that the Regents will review.

Bill Gates is being recognized for his twin contributions of "making information technology accessible to people everyone on earth and by providing medical care, education and economic opportunity where it is desperately needed," according to the award citation. "Your goal has been to enrich the lives of others, to empower them so they might prosper." The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has "brought together private enterprise, government, and philanthropy to battle global disease, poverty, and inequality in ways that are ingenious, uniquely strategic, and extraordinarily successful."

Melinda French Gates is recognized for shaping the priorities and direction of the foundation that bears her name. Since its inception, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given $16.5 billion in grants to address urgent inequities in the United States and around the world. Its grantmaking is organized into three programs -- Global Health, Global Development and United States. The foundation supports grantees in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Internationally, it supports work in more than 100 countries.

Freshman Convocation is 10:30 a.m. Sunday Sept. 21 in the Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. About 7,000 people are expected to attend this event, which officially marks the beginning of the academic year. UW classes start Sept. 24. The UW is anticipating a freshman class of about 5,500 students.

More information about UW honorary degrees is at http://depts.washington.edu/honord/index1.shtml.