The Triangle

Issue date: 5/26/06 Section: News

The University approved four honorary degree recipients and speakers for the June 17 Main Campus Commencement May 24.

Commencement will take place at the Daskalakis Athletic Center and will be divided into morning, early afternoon, late afternoon and evening ceremonies. Undergraduate and graduate students will participate in the same ceremony, unlike last year, when they were separate. All four ceremonies will be Webcast live on the University's Web site.

Earle Mack, class of '59, will address the Lebow College of Business students at the morning ceremony and will receive a Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa. In addition, Mack was inducted into the Drexel 100 society. Mack is a former U.S. ambassador to Finland. According to a University press release, Mack was a senior partner in The Mack Company, a N.J.-based real estate investment and construction firm. Mack served as a member in many organizations, including the New York State Council on the Arts and Advisory Board for the New York State Business Venture Partnership.

Graduating students from the College of Arts and Sciences, Goodwin College of Professional Studies and the School of Education will attend the noon ceremony, which will feature Paul Stonley, president of the National Commission for Cooperative Education. Stonley will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, commemorating the 100th anniversary of cooperative education. In his role at NCCE, Stonley created a $2.6 million co-op scholarship program. In addition, he also created the Co-op Hall of Fame that contains 194 inductees, 27 of those individuals are Drexel alumni. Stonley recently began working on promoting work-integrated learning in other countries through the Word Association for Cooperative Education.

Ali Houshmand, dean for GCPS, said that he is pleased to have Stonley speak at commencement and feels that he is a perfect fit to the University's focus on co-op.

"To honor our centennial year of cooperative education, it is extremely fitting to have Paul Stonely," said Houshmand. "Our graduates include those who have taken the traditional path with co-operative education playing a major part in their educational process. Our graduates also include the non-traditional students who, while studying at Drexel, have also been part of the workforce. The work of Dr. Stonely's organization focuses on corporate research projects, focusing on learning outcomes of co-operative education in today's workplace. All of these things will be of interest to the Goodwin graduates, who will all be able to hit the ground running in the corporate arena because of their Drexel training."

Speaking in the afternoon ceremony will be William Schleyer, class of '73 and chief executive officer of Adelphia Communications. Schleyer will address the graduates of the College of Engineering and the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. He will receive a Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa. Schleyer is noted for serving an integral role in the rise of the cable industry. He focused on helping bring broadband data and modem services along with the development of digital technology standards to the cable industry. Schleyer is also a member of the Drexel 100 society.

Selcuk Guceri, dean for CoE, feels that Schleyer is "an excellent role model for our CoE students. He is a great example of how engineers can do great things in both science and in business practices. He is a distinguished alumnus and we are honored to have him speak at commencement."

Sharon Pinkenson, executive director of the Philadelphia Film Office, will be speaking at the evening ceremony for the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, College of Information Science and Technology, and College of Nursing and Health Professions. She will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. Pinkenson works on all facets of the non-profit company that brought in over $1 billion for Philadelphia in her 14-year tenure. Through lobbying, Pinkenson has helped bring about the adoption of the Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit, which helps in advancing business for Philadelphia's media industry.

Allen Sabinson, dean of AWCoMAD, is excited to see Pinkenson speaking to his college and strongly feels that the students will benefit from it.

"Sharon is a perfect speaker for our commencement," Sabinson said. "She has done more to encourage film production in Philadelphia and the region than any other single individual over the past ten years. In doing so, she has created employment opportunities for hundreds of local actors, costume designers, camera crews and other film artists. She has invited Drexel students to numerous educational and co-op and potential employment opportunities, and has given freely of her time."

"Sharon is also a person of enormous personal style, warmth and intelligence. She has a sense of style and fashion, and began her career there. She speaks to really all of the design, media and performing arts programs offered in our college."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools