Northeastern University College of Professional Studies Confers 1,093 Degrees
Photo by Heratch Ekmekjian
With thousands of family members and friends in attendance, graduates ranging from the associate level through doctorate graduated on Friday, June 6, at Matthews Arena on the Northeastern University campus in Boston, MA.
A total of 1,093 degrees were conferred – 18 Associate, 252 Bachelor’s, 721 Master’s, 6 Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies, and 96 Doctoral. On Thursday, June 5th, the college hosted a Doctoral Hooding Ceremony for doctoral candidates in the Doctor of Education, Doctor of Law and Policy, and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs symbolizing their transition from student to scholar-practitioner.
Graduates received advice from graduation speaker, Dr. Mark Albion, who offered two “don’ts” and three “do’s”:
- Don’t get really good at what you don’t want to do.
- Don’t defer your life plan.
- Do turn your values into value.
- Do surround yourself with a community of love.
- Do know how to measure success.
Albion is a former Harvard Business School professor and university administrator who has co-founded seven companies, including the global young leadership organization, Net Impact. Albion’s latest venture is More Than Money Careers, which provides a self-leadership, career platform that helps students, young professionals, and alumni “get clear, connected and hired” for well-paying impact jobs that fit their values—using their heads to follow their hearts.
Exemplary Teaching and Social Impact
During graduation, the College presented the Teaching Excellence Award to two outstanding faculty members: Dr. Gail Matthews DeNatale and Dr. Arsenio Paez.
And, the College awarded the Dean’s Social Impact Award to Elizabeth McLellan RN MSN MPH. She is President and Founder of Partners for World Health, a non-governmental organization dedicated to improving health care around the world by improving the medical supply chain and coordinating medical missions in Africa, Asia, and South America to promote capacity building and training.
Students Receive Degree of the Highest Honor: Their Doctorate
The previous day, Thursday, June 5, the doctoral candidates of the Transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Law and Policy, and Doctor of Education programs were honored at the annual ceremony, receiving their doctoral hoods from their thesis advisers.
At each doctoral hooding ceremony, one student is selected to receive the Dean’s Medal for Outstanding Doctoral Work, the highest honor awarded by the College to a doctoral graduate. The award was established to acknowledge exemplary academic achievement and to recognize demonstrated creativity. This year, the Dean’s Medal winner was Dr. Sean Robert Gallagher for his thesis entitled Major Employers’ Hiring Practices and the Evolving Function of the Professional Master’s Degree. Gallagher is Chief Strategy Officer at Northeastern University.
Graduation culminates the 2013-14 academic year that saw many changes at the College of Professional Studies including: Growth and Change
- Faculty member Tova Olson Sanders was one of two award recipients of Northeastern’s highest teaching honor.
- Enrollment of students in the College’s two newest degree programs: Master of Arts in Homeland Security and Master of Science in Regulatory Affairs of Food and Food Industries.
- Addition of three former ambassadors to the faculty of the Master of Science in Global Studies and International Relations degree program.
- The launch of a graduate program in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – the Master of Science in Leadership degree in cooperation with International University of Vietnam.
- The arrival of Northeastern’s first cohort of students from Nigeria, studying in a summer bridge program at Northeastern and University of Vermont. Approximately 40 students from Nigeria are expected to matriculate into degree programs at Northeastern in the fall of 2014.
- Stan Phanord, a graduate of Foundation Year, the intensive first-year college program, graduated from Northeastern this year with a Fulbright Fellowship and a Rangel Fellowship, establishing his path to graduate studies and a career in diplomacy.
Northeastern University College of Professional Studies is one of nine colleges that form the university. Northeastern University is recognized for academic excellence, ranking in the top 50 universities in the United States in U.S. News & World Report and is ranked 6th among U.S. universities sought by international students. Northeastern is renowned for experiential education, and the College of Professional Studies incorporates that strength in career-focused professional education at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Degrees reflect business needs, the reality of the present economy, and areas of professional growth and demand.