RALEIGH — Erskine Bowles, former UNC president and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, will give the commencement address at William Peace University on May 11.

Bowles will receive an honorary doctorate, as will the late Jacquelin Quesenbery Jeutter, an alumna, donor and former Peace trustee.

The William Peace grads may get some advice for avoiding debt.

Bowles has recently made the TV talk show circuit, promoting a deal in Washington to solve the nation’s deficit problems. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Bowles co-chairman, along with former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, of a national commission on fiscal reform. The two have appeared jointly across the country to advocate for a long-term solution to the nation’s mounting deficit.

The two-time Democratic Senate candidate from North Carolina served the United Nations as a special envoy to coordinate response to the Southeast Asia Tsunami. In North Carolina, he led a task force on rural prosperity.