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In Review

COMMENCEMENT 2018Connect . . . with People
commencementCLASS GRASP: Class of 2018 graduates Anne Cheng, Venice Magunga, and Anmol Almast celebrate after receiving their degrees at the commencement ceremony for Arts, Sciences & Engineering on the Eastman Quadrangle in May. (Photo: Keith Walters for University Communications)
Margaret_GeorgiadisMargaret Georgiadis

Honorees

Among the recipients of University honors during this spring’s commencement ceremonies were:

Margo Georgiadis, the CEO of Ancestry, who gave the commencement address and received the Eastman Medal

Kenneth Morris Jr., who accepted an honorary degree on behalf of his great-great-great-grandfather, Frederick Douglass

David Primo, the Ani and Mark Gabrellian Professor and associate professor of political science and business administration, who received the Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Chigusa Kurumada, assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences and Wyatt Tenhaeff, assistant professor of chemical engineering, who each received the G. Graydon Curtis ’58 and Jane W. Curtis Award for Nontenured Faculty Teaching

Jane Chu, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, who received the Luminary Award

Joanne Larson, the Michael W. Scandling Professor of Education at the Warner School of Education, who received the William H. Riker University Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching

Deborah Cory-Slechta, professor of environmental medicine, pediatrics, and public health sciences, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Graduate Education

Seymour Schwartz ’57M (Res), Distinguished Alumni Professor of Surgery, who received the Eastman Medal

Mary Ellen Burris ’68W (Mas), senior vice president of consumer affairs for Wegmans Food Markets, who received the Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal

Ronald Fielding ’73, ’76S (MBA), retired chief strategist and senior vice president of Oppenheimer Funds Inc., who received an honorary degree.

While today’s college students are connected in ways earlier generations could only imagine, Ancestry CEO Margaret (Margo) Georgiadis says they risk losing touch with what matters most—their close connections with individual people.

“Technological advancements are enabling us to reimagine everything in our lives—how we communicate, commute, shop, learn, entertain ourselves, and more,” Georgiadis told the graduating Class of 2018 during the Arts, Sciences & Engineering ceremony on the Eastman Quadrangle. “And we are only getting started. I’ve spent 30 years helping companies prepare for and reimagine the future. So my message today may surprise you. While we are more connected and have more opportunity than ever before, our biggest risk is that we forget about people. . . It is these human connections that are essential to enabling the change we all need to see in the world.”

Georgiadis, who received the University’s Eastman Medal, was one of several honorees and guests who were recognized as part of Rochester’s 168th commencement season. Altogether, during this spring’s ceremonies, the University bestowed more than 2,500 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees.

Among this year’s honorees was Frederick Douglass, who was awarded a posthumous honorary degree in recognition of his historic role as an abolitionist, human rights leader, orator, and author. (See page 15.)

This spring also marked the first time Richard Feldman presided over the ceremonies as president.

“You have learned the value of the most important gifts we can provide: critical thinking, perseverance, the value of working with others, the value of serving the community, a personal commitment to Meliora,” he said in his address to the College Class of 2018.

“You will succeed because of your talents, your education, and your work ethic.”

For more about commencement, visit the commencement website.