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Associated Press - November 19, 2009 6:15 PM ET
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden is returning to the campus where the acting bug led her to earn a degree.
Harden, described by the University of Texas at Austin as the school's first graduate to receive an Oscar, will be the commencement speaker on May 22, 2010.
Harden says she's "thrilled and honored to speak to these bright young minds, ready to go out and improve our world."
Harden won a supporting-actress Academy Award for 2000's "Pollock." The 50-year-old actress was nominated for a supporting-actress Oscar for 2003's "Mystic River."
Harden was honored by Broadway in June, winning a Tony for best performance by a leading actress in a play for "God of Carnage."
Harden graduated with honors in December 1980 from UT with a bachelor of arts degree in drama, said university spokesman Robert Meckel. Her master of fine arts degree came from New York University.
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