Greg Carr to earn honorary doctorate from Boise State

Boise State University will award an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to philanthropist and businessman Greg Carr for his contributions to the humanities and his commitment to the improvement of human welfare. The doctorate will be conferred May 9 at the university’s spring commencement ceremonies.

Carr co-founded Boston Technology, a telecommunications equipment manufacturer. Under his leadership, the company became the primary voice-mail provider to telephone companies in the U.S. Carr then co-founded Africa Online, which brought the Internet to developing countries, before becoming the chairman of Prodigy Inc., one of the first commercially successful Internet service providers, in 1996.

In 1999, Carr resigned from his for-profit ventures and created the Greg C. Carr Foundation, where he has focused his efforts on humanitarian issues. He has endowed the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at his alma mater, the Kennedy School of Government. Carr, an Idaho Falls native, also co-founded the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls in 2000. Then, in 2001, he purchased the former Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake and converted it into a park and peace center.

Carr also funded an education center in the Human Rights Education Institute in nearby Coeur d’Alene and helped with construction and dedication costs for the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise.

Most recently, he has launched the Gorongosa Restoration Project in Mozambique, a conservation project that will restore Gorongosa’s natural habitat while creating sustainable jobs in the areas of science, tourism, conservation, and education. Carr is involved with Boise State’s Frank Church Institute, Andrus Center for Public Policy, and Andrus Center Conference on Women and Leadership.