MORROW, Ga. - Clayton State University is awarding a former Atlanta mayor with an honorary doctorate of public service.

University spokesman John Shiffert says former Mayor Shirley C. Franklin is being honored at the school's fall commencement ceremony on Saturday.

Franklin is scheduled to be the keynote speaker for a noon ceremony, where officials will present degrees to approximately 245 graduates from the school's colleges of Arts and Sciences and Information and Mathematical Sciences.

Franklin served two terms as mayor and oversaw several major projects in the urban planning, economic development and infrastructure arenas.

Shiffert says she also led an initiative that gave about 4,000 Atlanta college students internships and financial aid.

Franklin, originally of Philadelphia, served as director of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs in her early days working in Atlanta government.