I had the good fortune of attending the 2018 graduation ceremony at MSU. I always find these occasions to be a reminder of the importance and responsibility of an academic career. However, this celebration on 4 May 2018 was particularly significant to me. First, it was my last, before I head off to Britain for whatever awaits me there. Secondly, I was proud to be asked to hood one of our graduating doctoral students, Ruth Shillair, who I’ve been working with since my arrival in 2014. Ruth participated in the Oxford Internet Institute’s summer doctoral programme, and has helped me with several papers in collaboration with the Oxford Martin Cyber Security Capacity Center. Ruth has many more academic achievements to look forward to.
Finally, I was inspired by the wonderful set of honorary degree recipients. Every year, MSU is able to bring in distinguished individuals, many with close ties to MSU, but during a year of troubles for the university, this year’s honorees were particularly welcome and inspiring. They included:
Marcia McNutt, who gave the commencement speech at the advanced degree ceremonies, is President of the National Academy of Sciences, and former editor-in-chief of the Science journals. She spoke about her role with the U.S. Geological Survey in helping to contain the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
After the ceremony, at an event for the honorary degree recepients, who spoke at other commencement ceremonies, I was able to hear from others, including:
Akinwumi Adesina, an agricultural economist, who is president of the African Development Bank Group, and former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture;
Bethany Beardslee, a soprano, who rode her bike to MSU, where she majored in music in the early 1940s, when MSU was the Michigan Agriculture College [that is the origin of M.A.C. Street]. She is widely acclaimed, receiving the Laurel Leaf Award for ‘fostering and encouraging American music’ from the American Composers Alliance;
Wanda Herndon, who has held senior-level positions at a number of major companies, including vice president of Global Communications for Starbucks Coffee Company. She now has her own consulting firm, W Communications. Ms Herndon has been named one of the top 12 African-Americans in public relations as well as one of the ‘Top 100 Black Professionals in Corporate America’.
Albert “Albie” Sachs, a judge and legal scholar, who was appointed to the Constitutional Court by Nelson Mandela in 1994, after devoting much of his life since 1952 as a human rights advocate in South Africa.
My thanks to all of those who organized the 2018 graduation ceremonies for bringing such brilliant people to the attention of our students and faculty.
