Fabulous 2017 Graduate Commencement at UMass Amherst with My PhD Student Receiving Her Diploma

What a glorious time of the year this is with college graduations in the beautiful month of May!

Today the Graduate Commencement at UMass Amherst was held with more than 1,800 graduate degrees awarded to graduates from 60 different countries.

I had the pleasure of robing my 19th PhD student, Dr. Sara Saberi (my 20th, Shivani Shukla, had defended her doctoral dissertation just this past Wednesday, so it has been a thrilling week).  Dr. Saberi successfully defended her doctoral dissertation last August and marched in the procession today. She has completed her first year as an Assistant Professor at the Foisie School of Business at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. It is terrific to have her "close by."

Her husband, who also has a PhD, and is an expert in food science, graciously brought us bouquets of red roses.

The processional to the Mullins Center, where the awarding of degrees took place this morning, started a few minutes late - after 9:00AM, but it was worth it.

 

There was music and marvelous speeches by UMass President Marty Meehan and UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy.

First, the recipients of the Master's degrees received their degrees and then it was time for the PhD recipients. UMass Amherst started a very nice tradition a few years back of having the doctoral dissertation advisor "hood" the PhD recipient.

Sara and I had fun taking a selfie.

It was also very special that Dr. Tilman Wolf, who was the PI on the large Future Internet Architecture (FIA) NSF grant, that I was a Co-PI on, and which also supported Sara for two years, was recognized at the commencement with a Distinguished Mentorship Award!

A reception followed and it was wonderful to see the support from Sara, including from Shivani Shukla and one of my PhD students, Pritha Dutta.

At the reception, we had a chance to also chat with other colleagues from the Isenberg School of Management, as well as degree recipients, supporters, and family members.

Yesterday evening, the Isenberg School of Management held a special robing ceremony for our PhD recipients. The PhD program is under the directorship of Dr. George Milne. The Isenberg School presented the PhDs with the beautiful maroon and black robes that they got to wear this morning!

Each advisor was to speak no more than 3 minutes about his/her PhD recipient.

Sara was stuck on the Amtrak for an hour between Springfield and Northampton, traveling from New Jersey, and missed the event. I spoke about her many achievements as a doctoral student, including receiving the Isenberg School, Outstanding Doctoral Student Researcher Award and the Isenberg Scholar Award, not just once, but twice.

The photo below was taken by one of my doctoral students, Deniz Besik. A big congratulations to such an outstanding cohort of Isenberg PhD recipients!

Sara now has 2 PhDs: one in Industrial Engineering, and the other one in Management, with a focus on Management Science! So she should be addressed as : Dr. Dr. Sara Saberi!

Congratulations to the Isenberg School Class of 2015!

This morning, the Isenberg School graduation for our undergraduates, class of 2015 took place, with graduating seniors from our 7 departments being honored.

The event took place at the Mullins Center at UMass Amherst and it was a joyful occasion, which flowed smoothly, and those of us in Operations care about such things. Associate Dean Linda Shea was a great emcee and had an inspiring speech. The student speaker was Lauren Casaceli, who has been a great ambassador for the Isenberg School, and has had a leadership role in organizing the very successful annual Women of Isenberg Business Conference. Dean Mark A. Fuller had closing remarks, took another selfie, and showed a video tribute to Gene Isenberg and his family.

The faculty always enjoy shaking hands with the graduates from their departments and it was great to see so many Operations and Information Management graduates. I was hoping to see more parents afterwards but with about 1,000 graduates across all departments, that was rather challenging.

The photos below I took before, during, and after the ceremony today. The faculty were resplendent in their academic regalia.

Congratulations to the Class of 2015!

The family members and friends of the graduates as well as other faculty after the ceremony in photos below.

The Best Deerfield Academy Graduation Ever with a Suprise Appearance of a President

The 2012 Deerfield Academy graduation that took place today at which 198 students graduated was magical -- from the bagpiper to the colonial fyfe and drum corps to the pomp and circumstance.

The female graduates were resplendent in their white dresses and carried yellow roses with the male graduates all in navy blazers and ties.All the other students also took part in the ceremonies.

A special wish was granted at the graduation through the Make a Wish Foundation -- one of the graduates has been battling bran cancer and former President Bill Clinton granted his wish by speaking in a videotape to the class.You may view his speech on youtube here.


Congratulations to the class of 2012 for all of your achievements -- academic, athletic, artistic, personal, and community-wise. Special congrats to the 26 cum laude society members -- an amazing group  of high achievers in a class with special charisma, enthusiasm, and energy. I couldn't be prouder of my daughter and her fellow graduates.

As one of the speakers said -- the friendships made will last a lifetime.

Thanks for all the wonderful memories! With best wishes to the class of 2012!

The Isenberg Graduation Was Fabulous as Were the Shoes that They Wore

In my previous post, I wrote about the graduate ceremonies at UMass Amherst that took place yesterday and posted a lot of photos.


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!

Spectacular Deerfield Academy Graduation Through Photos

Today, May 29, 2011, the Deerfield Academy graduation took place in historic Old Deerfield on a day that began with clouds and then turned into a glorious one!

The event, complete with bagpiper, a drum corps, the graduating seniors, the other students, the faculty, members of the Board of Trustees, special guests, and families and friends, was simply spectacular.

The above photos capture some of the majesty of this special day.

Congratulations to the Deerfield Academy class of 2011!

Best wishes to you all!