The Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, N.J., is the site for the University’s 63rd Commencement ceremony to be held on Tuesday, May 16, at 10 a.m.

From left are Kwame Anthony Appiah, Kuslima Shogen and Ibrahim Agboola Gambari.

More than 2,700 graduates will receive doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and associate degrees.

As reported in the March issue of Inside FDU on the Web, honorary doctoral degrees will be conferred on Kwame Anthony Appiah, philosopher, novelist and scholar of African and of African-American studies (honorary doctor of humane letters degree); Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, United Nations under-secretary-general for political affairs (honorary doctor of humane letters degree); and Kuslima Shogen, BS’74, MS’76 (Ruth), CEO/chairman of the board/director of the Alfacell Corporation (honorary doctor of science degree).

The Student Pinnacle awards will be presented by the campus provosts. One student from each campus who demonstrated academic excellence, public service and commitment to the University will be honored. Each winner will deliver remarks.

Jennifer Lehr, communication (Flor), and Joseph Kiernan, economics/finance and campus provost (Metro), will read the names of the graduates.

Student Pinnacle Award Recipients

Joseph Kiernan, campus provost (Metro), will present the Student Pinnacle to Keisha Baptiste, who will graduate with a bachelor of science in civil engineering technology degree.

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Baptiste came to FDU after having taught high school math and physics. A Col. Fairleigh S. Dickinson Scholar, she was a presidential ambassador with the office of undergraduate admissions. Her guided tours of the campus for families and high school students earned her a “Tour Guide of the Year” award.

A resident assistant since her sophomore year, Baptiste also became involved in the International Student Association and the Student Government Association and has held the treasurer’s position in both organizations.

In her senior year, Baptiste served as vice president of the Student Government Association and has received the “Above and Beyond” award in recognition of her outstanding contribution and academic performance as well as her commitment to the Office of Residence Life. Baptiste was recently awarded the International Student Undergraduate Award and was inducted into the Phi Omega Epsilon Honor Society. Earlier, she was a recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship.

While busy with campus activities, she has been a part of the University Honors program since her freshman year and has completed research for her thesis — a proposal for the design and construction of a new footbridge over the Hackensack River linking the Teaneck and Hackensack sides of the campus.

From left are Keisha Baptiste and Jessica Heulitt.

After graduation, Baptiste plans to pursue a career in the construction industry with a focus in highway, bridge and tunnel design while completing the requirements to become a licensed, professional engineer.

The College at Florham Student Pinnacle Award will be presented by Interim Provost Kenneth Greene to Jessica Heulitt, BA’05, who will graduate with an MAT with an elementary education specialization through the five-year QUEST program. She has been involved in seven organizations, served as an officer in four and made significant contributions to the campus and the local community while maintaining a 3.99 grade point ratio.

A four-year letter-winner for the women’s basketball team, Heulitt served as a captain for her senior season. The athletic department selected her to represent the University at the New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women’s “2005 Woman of the Year Luncheon.”

Her campus leadership spans a wide variety of activities — from chairing the Halloween Havoc Committee to heading the Faculty-Athlete Picnic Committee. Heulitt served in the Student Government Association, was honored by her peers as Homecoming Queen and received the “Student Leader of the Year” Maddy Award.

As part of her interest in education, Heulitt took part in the “Reading Partners” program with the Madison Library and worked with S.T.A.R.T., an on-campus alcohol awareness program.

Active in her sorority, Theta Phi Alpha, Heulitt served as the scholarship chair and as the sorority president — taking part in the Adopt-a-Highway program and in charity walks for heart disease, breast cancer and diabetes. In 2005, she was honored as “Greek Woman of the Year.”

Over her five years at the College at Florham, Heulitt has excelled academically. A Charter Day Scholar, she garnered the award for the highest grade point ratio earned by a Greek female for three straight years. Her name has appeared on the Dean’s List or the Honors List every semester of her studies.

In April, Heulitt accepted a long-term substitute teaching position in Hanover Township, N.J. She hopes to find a position teaching at the elementary school level, and, in the future, move into the field of school psychology.

Honorary Degree Recipients

Kwame Anthony Appiah is best known for his contribution to political philosophy, moral psychology and the philosophy of culture. Born in London, Appiah attended primary school in Kumasi, Ghana, until the ruler of Ghana imprisoned his father.

He earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees at Cambridge. As an undergraduate, he met Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who became his collaborator on a number of projects, including the Amistad series of critical anthologies on major African-American writers. Appiah’s book In My Father’s House (1992) focused on Africa’s struggle for self-definition in a world dominated by Western values and became an instant classic. He is the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University.

Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, United Nations under-secretary-general for political affairs, holds the second most influential and powerful position in the Secretariat. Prior to joining the Secretariat in 1999, Gambari was the longest serving ambassador/permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations. He chaired the U.N. Special Committee Against Apartheid, which successfully saw the demise of that injustice and the establishment of democratic rule in South Africa.

He earned a BSc (economics) degree in political science from the London School of Economics, and an MA and PhD from Columbia University.

Kuslima Shogen, CEO/chairman of the board/director of the Alfacell Corporation, BS’74, MS’76 (Ruth), is an internationally recognized thought-leader in ribonuclease-based therapeutics. She formed Alphacell in 1981 to pursue research that she had initiated while a biology student in the University Honors Program at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Shogen was named to the first annual PharmaVOICE 100 List of the Most Inspiring People.

Alfacell Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for cancer.

For full background information on the honorees, visit http://view.fdu.edu/default.aspx?id=751 .

Commencement Logistics

Faculty, staff and candidates for graduation must arrive at the arena no later than 8:30 a.m. Marshals must arrive by 8 a.m. Backpacks and large bags will not be permitted for security reasons. All should enter the arena between Gates A and D and use the escalators to go down to the floor level. There, signs will be posted for robing rooms and for volunteers to receive instructions. Students will be lined up on the arena floor level according to degree and by college. All graduates will have their names called and will walk across the stage; photographs will be taken of each graduate.

The ceremony should end by 1 p.m. Graduates will be able to pick up their diplomas in the Offices of Enrollment Services on each campus starting June 19, or diplomas can be mailed to the graduates’ homes.

The College at Florham marshals’ meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 10, at noon in the Bottle Hill Room, Student Center. A training session for Metropolitan Campus faculty and staff marshals and volunteers will be held on Thursday, May 11, at 2 p.m. in the Rutherford Room, Student Union Building.

Faculty and staff must return their academic regalia in the original boxes to their respective campus bookstores no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17. Charges will be incurred if the regalia is not returned on time. Both campus bookstores will be open Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information on commencement and full background information on the honorees, visit http://view.fdu.edu/default.aspx?id=751 .

April/May 2006

View text only for this complete issue.

Flor =
College at Florham, Madison, N.J.

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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