Philip Mangano, whose career has spanned roles as a Hollywood music agent, a Boston breadline volunteer, and, most recently, the White House appointee as the nation's "Homeless Czar," will deliver the Class of 2009 Commencement address at University of Puget Sound. The graduation ceremony will be held Sunday, May 17, at Baker Stadium on Puget Sound's Tacoma, Wash. campus. Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, will give his address at 2 p.m. The public and the press are welcome to attend.

Mangano has been coordinating the federal response to homelessness since his appointment to the Washington, D.C. post in 2002. He has been praised for applying a business-like approach and principles of cost-benefit analysis to a problem that has defied a solution for decades. His focus on providing housing for the long-term homeless appeared to reap results when a 2008 Department of Housing and Urban Development report cited 12 percent fewer people living on the streets in 2007 than in 2005.

"We are honored that Phil Mangano will give the keynote address at our Commencement Ceremony," said President Ron Thomas. "I know Phil to be a persuasive and energetic speaker who lives his life according to his ideals. His inspiring life journey in delivering strategic, innovative, and passionate human service offers a model many of our graduates will follow as their lives beyond Puget Sound unfold."

Mangano's career has followed some unusual twists. In the 1970s he worked in Los Angeles as a music agent for artists including members of Peter, Paul, and Mary and Buffalo Springfield. One day he saw the movie Brother Son, Sister Moon, a portrait of Saint Francis of Assisi, who gave up his wealth to work with the poor. Mangano later told a reporter that the movie "slipped behind my defenses. For the first time, I understood that one could give expression to one's life in committing it to the poor." Years later, while reading a biography of St. Francis, Mangano made his own pledge. He returned to his hometown of Boston, and began working on a church breadline.

Today Mangano applies the skills he learned negotiating music deals to the task of cajoling state, county, and city officials into tackling chronic homelessness. By focusing on research, not ideology, he has managed to forge alliances with many Democratic mayors while serving under the Bush administration. In 2006 Mangano was named Public Official of the Year, and in 2007, he was nominated as one of TIME Magazine's "100 Most Influential People."

Puget Sound, through its Civic Scholarship Initiative and the research work of professors, also has been a staunch proponent of solving homelessness. In 2008 the college was honored by the Pierce County Coalition for the Homeless with The Road Home Leadership Team Award for the contributions of students, staff, and faculty. Commencement Weekend, May 15-17, will include:

• Saturday, May 16, 2-3 p.m: Academic Convocation, Schneebeck Concert Hall
• Sunday, May 17, 1 p.m: Graduate and faculty lineup, G.E. Karlen Quadrangle
• 2-4:30 p.m. Commencement Ceremony, Baker Stadium