NJIT Commencement Congratulations 2015
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) conferred 3,931 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees on May 19, 2015 at the 99th commencement exercises at the Prudential Center in Newark, bringing the total amount of degrees awarded by the university to more than 77,000.
The ceremony featured speakers who advised the Class of 2015 to champion diversity and equity in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and to embrace the positives of technological change.
Irving Pressley McPhail, chairman and chief executive officer of the National Association for Minority Engineering, Inc. (NACME), underscored the crucial role of diversity in the STEM disciplines in order to maintain our nation’s competitive edge and to “unlock innovation and drive growth.”
“Diversity is an asset, not an obligation,” McPhail said, who received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the university.
An honorary Doctor of Science was awarded to Charles Elachi, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a vice president at California Institute of Technology. Elachi, who served as principal investigator on a number of NASA-sponsored studies and flight projects including the Shuttle Imaging Radar Series, the Magellan Imaging Radar, and the Cassini Titan Radar, said that he had “no doubt” that the Class of 2015 would witness the first footprint on Mars.
“I stand here envious of you,” he said. “If there are signs of life, it will be discovered in your lifetime.”
NJIT President Joel S. Bloom, who presided over the ceremony, advised graduates to be open to the good that technological change can bring and to pursue every opportunity to be among the first guiding change in constructive directions toward a future that is healthier, more economically prosperous, culturally vibrant and sustainable.
“Take the lead in breaching the barriers that deny this human connection,” Bloom said. “Do whatever you can to foster tolerance and understanding that will benefit men and women of every nation and background. The emerging ‘Internet of Things’ will fulfill its promise only if it supports caring interconnection among people and provides equitable access to the full range of benefits possible.”
Gretchen Von Koenig ‘15, of Akron, Ohio, who addressed the Class of 2015 and received a B.S. degree in industrial design and a B.A. in theatre technology, told her classmates to be “immensely proud of the seat you’re in now.” Von Koenig, who served as senior class president, will begin her graduate studies in the history of design and curatorial studies at Parsons The New School for Design and the Smithsonian Design Museum in the fall.
“We’re very lucky to have gone through it,” Von Koenig said.
To learn about more about the outstanding graduates of the Class of 2015, click here: • NJIT - Newark College of Engineering Succe... and here: • Video