2009 Commencement Colloquy: "The Long View: Leading and Thriving in Challenging Times"

A Presidential Colloquy will be held Friday, May 15, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. in the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center Concert Hall. Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer, will be joined by this year’s honorary degree recipients to participate in “The Long View: Leading and Thriving in Challenging Times.” A reception will follow. KENNETH I. CHENAULT will deliver the opening remarks. A groundbreaking global business leader and mentor, he is chairman and chief executive officer of American Express Company. Before joining American Express in 1981, Chenault was a management consultant with Bain & Co. and an attorney with Rogers & Wells. Chenault serves on the boards of American Express and several other corporate and nonprofit organizations. A wide variety of civic, social service, and community organizations have recognized him for his public service leadership. In addition, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. SAMUEL JOSEFOWITZ ’42, industrial and chemical engineer, is one of the world’s most influential collectors of Post-Impressionist art. As a businessman and entrepreneur, he built some of the world’s largest record and book clubs, pioneering new ways of delivering culture and entertainment. In 1980, Josefowitz sold his business in order to concentrate on art, where his interests include Polynesian, Indonesian, and Pre-Columbian art, as well as Post-Impressionism. In 1998, Josefowitz, who had always generously lent and donated his art to museums, was honored with a gallery for his Pont-Aven collection in the Indianapolis Museum of Art. In 2005, he was made an officer in the Légion d’honneur by the French government in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to French culture. ROBERT C. RICHARDSON is the F.R. Newman Professor of Physics and senior vice provost for research, emeritus, at Cornell University. Richardson’s collaborative research in low-temperature physics has been recognized with numerous prestigious prizes and awards, including the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996. Richardson is a fellow of numerous professional societies and his service on many national governing boards has helped set research and higher education policy. Of his many accomplishments, Richardson often highlights his 30 years of teaching college physics. PETER SCHWARTZ ’68, an internationally renowned futurist, business strategist, and author, is cofounder and chairman of Global Business Network, a Monitor Group company, and a partner of the Monitor Group, a family of professional services firms devoted to enhancing client competitiveness. Schwartz specializes in scenario planning, working with corporations, governments, and institutions to create alternative perspectives of the future and develop robust strategies for a changing and uncertain world. His first book, The Art of the Long View, is considered a seminal publication on scenario planning and has been translated into multiple languages. SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON, PH.D., moderator, is the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. President since 1999, she has led an extraordinary transformation of Rensselaer, including the new Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, and the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. A theoretical physicist, she chaired the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1995-1999). Described as a “national treasure” by the National Science Board, she is a member of numerous prestigious boards and organizations including the National Academy of Engineering and the American Philosophical Society, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson Ph.D., President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

5/15/2009 8:00:00 PM