The University’s 60th Commencement exercises will be held in the Continental Airlines Arena on Wednesday, May 21, beginning at 10 a.m.

During the ceremony, the University will confer honorary doctor of humane letters degrees on a dynamic business leader, Gordon Bethune, Continental Airlines chairman of the board and chief executive officer; an award-winning television journalist, alumna Brenda Blackmon, BA’01 (Metro), news anchor, WWOR’s UPN 9 News; a renowned British educator and barrister, Michael J. Beloff, president, Trinity College, Oxford, England; and a foreign-policy spokesman Karsten D. Voigt, coordinator of German-American cooperation for the United States and German governments in the field of intersocietal relations, cultural and information policy. (For more information on recipients see “Honorary Degree Recipients” below.)

Nearly 2,000 graduates will receive doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and associate degrees and the Commencement address will be delivered by Bethune. Serving as grand marshal will be Antoinette Anastasia, biological sciences and associate director, biology, natural sciences (Metro).

The campus provosts will present the Student Pinnacle awards. Kenneth Greene, interim provost (Flor), will present his campus’s award to Alaina Driscoll. Driscoll, a hotel and restaurant management major, is a member of the Fairleigh Dickinson Honors Program and was selected for inclusion in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. She also received a Charter Day academic scholarship. The president of the Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Society, Driscoll revived the group, leading and creating a number of professional events and trips to prominent restaurants and hotels in New York City. Managing editor of The Metro, she also has served as vice president for the Resident Student Association, literary editor for Scribbler’s Literary Magazine and business manager of WFDM radio station.

The Student Pinnacle at the Metropolitan Campus will be presented to Joseph McCarron by Interim Metropolitan Campus Provost Richard Bronson. A communications major, McCarron has held many student positions on campus including general manager of WFDQ, photo editor of The Equinox, and is a member of both the Student Nurses Association and the Media Board. He also was the treasurer with the University Players drama club. A resident assistant for the past two years, he has further served as an assistant in the art department, has volunteered for Campus Clean Up, and also played the role of Knighttro, the Metropolitan Campus athletics mascot. Among his honors have included the University Campus Service Grant, the Division of Student Affairs Award and a University Leadership Scholarship and a New Jersey Distinguished Scholar Scholarship.

Jennifer Lehr, English/communication (Flor), and Joseph Kiernan, economics/finance and associate campus provost (Metro), will read the graduates’ names. For detailed commencement instructions for faculty and staff see “Commencement Logistics” below.

Honorary Degree Recipients

Gordon Bethune, left, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree at graduation on May 21. Other honorary recipients will be Michael J. Beloff, second from left; Brenda Blackmon, second from right; and Karsten D. Voigt, right.

Gordon Bethune

Gordon Bethune joined Continental Airlines, Inc., the nation’s fifth largest airline, in 1994. Under his leadership, Continental has won more awards for customer satisfaction than any other airline. Continental was named among the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” for the last five years by Fortune magazine. Continental is the largest carrier in the New York metropolitan area and operates the only hub in the region.

Bethune has promoted international growth at Continental, including expansion throughout Latin America and Europe.

He has been ranked among the 50 best CEOs in America by Worth magazine, and Travel Agent magazine named him its 2001 Airline Person of the Year. Business Travel News ranked him among the industry’s 25 Most Influential Executives of 2000 and 1998.

Bethune also is a licensed commercial pilot, type-rated on Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft as well as the DC-3.

The Honorable Michael J. Beloff has been president of Trinity College, Oxford, since 1996. He holds degrees in history and law from the University of Oxford, where he was president of the Oxford Union and a member of the Oxford Union Debating Tour of the USA.

As a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, he was part of the ad hoc panel for dispute resolution during the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., in 1996 and in Sydney, Australia, in 2000.

Beloff has appeared more than 40 times in the House of Lords and seven times in the European Court of Human Rights. His clients have included departments of state, foreign governments, international corporations, trade unions and prominent politicians, writers and sports champions.

Among his many credits, he was described in Legal Business in 1994 as “the Bar’s Renaissance Man,” and in Chambers and Partners Directory 1996–97 as one of the top three stars of the Bar. Legal Business also named him one of the top 10 barristers of the decade.

Brenda Blackmon anchors WWOR’s UPN 9 News. A Fairleigh Dickinson graduate, Blackmon has won numerous awards for her professional expertise and community service. She has garnered multiple Emmy Awards and nearly a dozen Associated Press Awards for best newscast, best spot news coverage and best coverage of a continuing story.

Her involvement with the Jerry Lewis Telethon resulted in merit awards for “exceptional support.” In 2002, the United Hospital Fund presented its New Leadership Group Humanitarian Award to Blackmon for her civic leadership and volunteer efforts on behalf of children. She was cited for distinguishing herself among a new generation of leaders in volunteerism.

Blackmon and Gov. James McGreevey are honorary chairpersons for the May 18, 2003, AIDS Walk New Jersey.

The governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States have appointed coordinators for German-American relations in 1981. Since 1999, this position has been held by Karsten D. Voigt. He is a former foreign-policy spokesman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.

As coordinator, Voigt widens the range of cooperation and expands contacts with decision-makers in all spheres of American society — particularly in universities, research establishments and parliaments.

For more than 20 years, he has been active in important positions with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Voigt has been a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO since 1977 and has served as chairman of the Defense and Security Committee (1989–93), as vice president (1992–94) and as president (1994–96) of the Assembly.

Candidates for graduation and faculty and staff must arrive at the arena no later than 8:30 a.m. Marshals must arrive at 8 a.m. For security reasons, backpacks and large bags will not be permitted within the arena. All should enter the arena between Gates A and D and proceed on the escalators to the arena floor level. There, signs will be posted for faculty 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 and shake hands with President J. Michael Adams. 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 Office of Enrollment Services on each campus starting June 11 or diplomas will be mailed to the graduates’ homes, if preferred.

The College at Florham marshals’ meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, at noon in the Bottle Hill Room, Student Center. Metropolitan Campus faculty and staff marshals must attend a training session on Friday, May 16, at 3 p.m. in the Rutherford Room, Student Union Building. Individuals who are volunteering (non-marshals) should attend a pre-commencement meeting on Friday, May 16, at 4 p.m. in the Rutherford Room, Student Union Building.

Faculty and staff must return their academic regalia to their respective campus bookstores: at the College at Florham — no later than Tuesday, May 27, and at the Metropolitan Campus — no later than 5 p.m., Friday, May 23, all regalia in their original boxes. Charges will be incurred if the regalia is not returned on time. Metropolitan Campus bookstore hours are Monday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The College at Florham bookstore is open Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information on commencement, go to http://www.fdu.edu/studentlife/commencement.html.

April/May 2003

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

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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