Over 150 people crowded into MSRC’ s conference room this morning – welcomed by MSRC ‘s Dean and Director David Conover – for a celebration honoring the 2005 graduates. In Conover’s opening remarks, he highlighted the process of learning and emphasized that when training the mind to understand how the world works, you have to eventually return to where you started, i.e., the unbound imagination of a child. By using new knowledge combined with imagination, you can push beyond current boundaries and look at problems in a new light. He also thanked the students for giving the faculty the opportunity to teach.
Dressed in their academic gowns and hoods, the faculty advisors personally introduced their graduates and spoke of a day of “mixed emotions: the great joy and happiness at seeing (their) students’ achievements, but also saying goodbye to those (they’ve) enjoyed working with.” Professor Minghau Zhang, Director of the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres, began by acknowledging the five undergraduates receiving a B.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences: Michael Curley, Augusto DeLaCruz, Vivek Iyer, Jason Razinsky, and Arthur Walters, Jr. Zhang noted how their challenging course of study has prepared them for many future career choices. Professor Kamazima Lwiza introduced the undergraduates receiving a B.A. in Environmental Stuclies. This group of 13 students-Colin Childers, Dustin Herlich, Daniel Iannotti (Magna Cum Laude), Justin Keller (Cum Laude), Chuck Lau, Jamie-Lee Niz, Ryan Ortiz, Tristen Petecca, Anthony Proetta, Jr., Caitlin Rohan, Joy Sauer, Brian Wasser (Summa Cum Laude), and Michael Zobel – can boast such accomplishments as forming the University’s environmental club, membership in Phi Beta Kappa, and research on lemurs in Madagascar.
Professor Rob Armstrong, Graduate Program Director, segued into the acknowledgements for the M.S. and Ph.D. graduates in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. Armstrong highlighted the value and utility of the in-depth research necessary to obtain a graduate degree regardless of your future career path. Seventeen Masters candidates – Vasso Alexandratos, Travis Baggett, Robin Barnes, Tim Chaffey, Jamilla Dick, Sandra Dumais, Keith Dunton, Doug Escribano, Joanna Gyory, Courtnay Hull, Kristal Kallenberg, Allison Mass, Kathryn McLetchie, Jillian Smith, Maria Stepanova, Amanda Tribble, and Beth Weinman – and nine Doctoral canclidates – Faez Bakalian, Federico Casares, Heather Crowley, Alex Kolker, Elizabeth Lamoureux, David Myers, Mussie Okbamichael, Gillian Stewart, and Jun Zheng- were recognized by their advisors during the ceremony. Advisors lauded the research accomplishments and expressed excited anticipation for the graduates’ futures.
Dean Conover concluded, “This year’s cohort of Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral students is an exceptionally talented group of people. We will miss them, but we also look forward with pride to even greater accomplishments from our newest alumni as their futures unfold.”
