This morning, I was back at the Mullins Center to take part, with over 1,000 of our graduating seniors, in the Isenberg School of Management 2012 ceremonies. Even Gene Isenberg, after whom our business school is named, was in attendance and sat in the front row.
I enjoy the special Isenberg graduation that takes place every May and this year was no exception.
The attendance was spectacular and I could not resist taking also some photos of the shoes that the graduates wore and noone toppled over descending the stairs (and, luckily, that includes the faculty). The distinctive shoes added a lot of color and style to the black robes of the graduates.
The faculty associated with each major lined up to shake the hands of the graduates with the major.
Kyle Lawless, a graduating senior, was the commencement speaker and should be invited back every year to give the commencement speech. He will be working for Ernst & Young.
He thanked his professors and singled out several professors that he had had and what he learned from them:
From Professor Dick Simpson, our esteemed accounting professor, who was still teaching this past year at the age of 77 (his 45th year of teaching) he learned that, whatever you do, it should be something that you love to do; from Professor Mike Whiteman, also an accounting professor who is retiring this year, he learned that you should be kind and nice to everyone, and from Professor Richard Rodgers, who is in Resource Economics, besides learning statistics from him, Kyle learned the importance of treasuring your family members and friends. Professor Rodgers told the class that he would give up his PhD and all of his publications to be able to have one more bike ride with his father.
The class of 2012 is amazing -- we wish you all much happiness and success -- you will be missed!
Thanks for the handshakes and the hugs!
Posts
