No Rain Delay for Graduation 2008
Photo by Stuart Cahill
Class Day 2008 was, in a word, wet. Umbrellas and clear plastic ponchos kept students, families, and friends assembled June 4 on Baker Lawn tolerably dry. Even drier were the 300 or so onlookers who opted to watch the proceedings live on the big screen in Burden Hall. High and dry on a sheltered podium, Time Inc. chairman and CEO Ann S. Moore (MBA ’78) challenged the Class of 2008 to make a difference while maintaining balance in their lives.
“I’m sorry my generation didn’t advance civilization further for you and left you with so many problems,” said Moore, who oversees over 120 consumer magazines and forty Web sites. She urged students to follow their dreams, cautioning that “inaction may be regretted more than action.”
For all her business successes and frequent world travels, Moore said that her “biggest thrill” is Sunday night dinner with her family. “I cook,” she added with a smile. “Wherever your career choices take you, try not to forget to be home Sunday evening for dinner with your family.”
Preceding Moore, student speaker David Rawlinson (MBA ’08) compared graduation to a “new dawn” for himself and his classmates. “Let us be equal to the new day that awaits us,” he said.
Following tradition, the MBA Class of 2008 honored four faculty members for excellence in teaching: Professor Thomas Piper (Financial Reporting and Control); Professor Jan Rivkin (Strategy); Lecturer Stacey Childress (Entrepreneurship in Education Reform); and Senior Lecturer Stephen Kaufman (Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise).
At Commencement the following day, the clouds remained but no umbrellas were needed as 907 students from more than seventy countries received MBAs, and 4 earned DBAs. In conjunction with the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 8 students were awarded Ph.D. degrees.
