Clarkson University awarded 770 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees to students from 33 states, 23 countries and 61 New York state counties at its 123rd commencement today, Saturday, May 7, 2016. (An additional 278 students received degrees this past winter and summer.)
The weekend was also marked by the commissioning of United States Army and United States Air Force officers on Friday.
Selma Mededovic Thagard, an associate professor of chemical & biomolecular engineering in Clarkson University's Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering, was awarded the John W. Graham Jr. Faculty Research Award. The $1,500 research accounts are presented to "faculty members who have shown promise in engineering, business, liberal arts or scientific research."
Mike Wasserman, an associate professor of organizational studies in Clarkson University's School of Business, was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award. The $1,500 prize is given "in recognition of the importance of superior teaching." Candidates are nominated for the award by Clarkson alumni and the final selection is made by a faculty committee.
Senior Leah C. Granger of Flowery Branch, Ga., was awarded the Levinus Clarkson Award, and senior Emily Gonthier of Norfolk, N.Y., received the Frederica Clarkson Award. Both are $1,000 prizes given to "a student who demonstrates the best combination of scholarship and promise of outstanding professional achievement."
In addition to the graduating students, receiving honorary doctor of science degrees and addressing students, families and guests were Deborah A. Elam, GE chief diversity officer and GE Foundation president; author Karl Marlantes; and Opal Tometi, executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration.
Clarkson also recognized in absentia three individuals, who were unable to attend the ceremony due to personal and professional commitments: Patrisse K. Cullors, director for truth and reinvestment at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights; Alicia Garza, special projects director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance; and Pentti A. Paatero, principal of YP-Tekniikka Ky.
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer also addressed the graduates.
Clarkson University educates the leaders of the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as an owner, CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. With its main campus located in Potsdam, N.Y., and additional graduate program and research facilities in the Capital Region and Beacon, New York, Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university with signature areas of academic excellence and research directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through more than 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, education, sciences and the health professions, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and innovation with enterprise
