They dug deep to find solutions for global problems, pulled all-nighters for project deadlines, fostered new and enduring friendships — and now they're heading out to make their impact on the world.
On Sunday, May 16, President Jared L. Cohon congratulated the more than 3,500 undergrad and grad students who received their hard-earned degrees from Carnegie Mellon at the university's 113th commencement.
Recognized for outstanding leadership and selfless dedication, Ian G. Rawson, managing director of Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) in Deschapelles, Haiti, inspired everyone in attendance with his keynote address.
"Sometimes it's possible for us as teachers to learn from our students, and it's possible for us as health care providers to learn from our patients," said Rawson, who went on to movingly describe how much he had learned from the strength, determination and perseverance of the survivors in Haiti.
Leslie McAhren (A'10), who received a master's degree in fine arts, brought her background in art, business and chemistry to her commencement speech titled "You, Me and Lifelong Ascent." Her speech championed a multidisciplinary approach as a way to reach one's full potential.
Dr. Rawson’s keynote address at Carnegie Mellon’s
113th commencement ceremony, May 16, 2010.
This year, Carnegie Mellon awarded honorary degrees to:
Gordon Bell, Doctor of Science and Technology. Bell is revered as part of the startup faculty of Carnegie Mellon's Computer Science Department, where he was a professor of computer science and engineering from 1966 to 1972. He's the father of the minicomputer and a world-renowned pioneer in high-performance and parallel computing, a principal researcher at Microsoft's Silicon Valley Laboratory, and for the last decade has been researching digitally storing a person's life.
Robert H. Dennard, Doctor of Science and Technology. Dennard, who earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon in 1958, is renowned as the inventor in 1967 of the one-transistor dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cell for IBM — the global standard for low-cost digital memory used universally in computers and other data processing and communication systems today.
Barbara Luderowski, Doctor of Fine Arts. Luderowski has made immense contributions to the arts community in the region as well as to the redevelopment of Pittsburgh's North Side neighborhood. Beginning with her purchase of a vacant mattress warehouse in the Mexican War Streets area in 1975, Luderowski has created today's multi-building Mattress Factory, a highly regarded museum of contemporary installation art with a world-renowned artists residency program.
James H. Simons, Doctor of Business Practice. Simons is chairman of the board of Renaissance Technologies, the exclusively quantitative, highly successful investment firm he founded in 1982, and served as CEO until 2009. He is also chairman and founder of the nonprofit Math for America, which he, together with a group of others in the financial industry, established in 2004 to improve math education in the nation's public high schools.
Learn more about Gordon Bell, Robert H. Dennard, Barbara Luderowski and James H. Simons.
