share interactive transcript request transcript/captions live captions
download
|
MyPlaylist
SPEAKER 1: Please stand, and remain standing as our graduates enter the arena.
First, please welcome our representative for and congratulate the entire class of the Cornell-Tsinghua Finance MBA class of 2022, led by Professor Luo Zuo.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
OK. Next, please welcome and congratulate the EMBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership class of 2022, led by Professor Vrinda Kadiyali.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[INAUDIBLE] come in one by one.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh, OK. Next, please welcome and congratulate the EMBA Metro New York [INAUDIBLE]
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Please welcome and congratulate the EMBA Americas class of 2022 two, led by Professor Danny Szpiro.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Love the tie.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Students and guests, please remain standing and welcome Johnson's faculty, led by the Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Andrew Karolyi.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Andrew is here.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Please be seated.
Welcome to the Johnson's Executive MBA commencement ceremony in honor of the class of 2022. Before we begin the formal portion of the program, I'd like to introduce those on stage with me who have roles in the ceremony. Ya-Ru Chen, academic dean of China Initiatives. Sara Lynn Ianni, executive director of the EMBA Metro New York program.
Christina Cortalano, program director of the Executive MBA and MS in Healthcare Leadership program.
[CHEERING]
Verne Thalheimer, executive director of the EMBA Americas program.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
And Mark Nelson, dean of the Johnson School.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Please join me now in welcoming Dean Nelson to the podium to deliver the commencement address.
[APPLAUSE]
[INAUDIBLE]. They were very clear about that.
MARK NELSON: Thank you, Rob, for that very kind introduction. Members of the class of 2022, families and friends, I am honored to welcome you to the graduation recognition ceremonies for the 75th graduating class of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
This weekend, we are thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of the degree candidates from our four Executive MBA programs-- 80 from the Cornell Executive MBA in Metro New York, 164 from the Cornell Executive MBA Americas, 132 from the Cornell-Tsinghua MBA/FMBA program, and 55 from the EMBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership. We gather today to honor your achievements. Though you represent diverse backgrounds and cultures, you now have one remarkable thing in common-- a Cornell University MBA degree.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Your effort and your dedication have been remarkable. You've pursued your careers while simultaneously pursuing your education. You've lost sleep and you've gained frequent flyer miles by dedicating your vacation time to trips to Ithaca and other residential locations. And for most of you, this investment has been made by others, as well as yourselves. So let's take a moment to thank those who have provided support along the path to this achievement. Family, friends, and members of this community, we thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
I'd also like to thank my faculty and staff colleagues who are with us here today. First, I'd like to thank Andrew Karolyi, who's the Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Dean Karolyi, you can do a wave.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
That was a double wave. Dean Karolyi leads our college, which of course includes Johnson, as well as our sister schools, Dyson and Nolan. In addition to being a world-renowned finance scholar and an inspiring leader of our college, Dean Karolyi has taught in Johnson EMBA programs for many years. I think you'll have a chance to hear from him later in this program, but please join me now in thanking Dean Karolyi for all he does for our college.
[APPLAUSE]
You know, though, there our entire faculty is dedicated to your success. They demonstrate that every day, both inside and outside of the classroom. Our staff likewise have supported you throughout your journey at Johnson, including admissions, registration, student events, job search, up to and including today. We all know that an event like this does not occur without many people working behind the scenes in ways that we can only imagine. So please join me in thanking the faculty and staff for all they've done and continue to do to support you and your journey.
[APPLAUSE]
OK, enough about them. Let's talk about you. By reinforcing your existing skills and experience, by pushing yourselves to investigate new approaches to familiar challenges, by seeing the value of effective collaboration while relishing the competitive environment, and by expanding and nurturing networks across your own industries and into others, and through innovation and hard work, you have achieved the next level of career success.
You've done amazing things along the way, balancing careers, families, and commitments while, for some, changing jobs, starting your own firms, or expanding the international reach of your existing firms. You've mastered integration and collaboration across teams, across disciplines, across cultures. You've also already made important contributions beyond Johnson and Cornell during your programs. I'd like to highlight just a few examples of the many projects and innovations you've created that so effectively manifest the qualities of a Johnson MBA, experiential learning, collaboration, and excellence.
In a great example of the entrepreneurial process at work, our 2022 Metro EMBA Shark Tank winner, Above the Line Studios, is a virtual, on-demand production services company tailored to new [INAUDIBLE] companies. Innovation is also being pursued outside of the curriculum. Alicia Edwards-Sibley had both of her startup ideas accepted into accelerators--
[CHEERING]
--I think that's the Edwards-Sibley contingent-- including BlueBird Meditation, which was accepted by the Clinton Global Initiative.
Close to home, an Americas EMBA team from Ithaca worked with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a conservation nonprofit, to develop a new business model for their mobile apps. The Merlin Bird ID and eBird are global resources to engage the public in identifying birds and to gather scientifically valuable data to inform bird conservation. The lab, though, really needs additional funding in order to scale globally and to achieve the controversial-- the conservation goals of the organization. The MBA team proposed a new monetization model. Just this week, a new initiative was launched based on the recommendations of the Ithaca team.
Students from our FMBA program have engaged in a variety of community impact projects. One involves value chain reconfiguration to lift poor farmers above the poverty line. A group of students worked for the Sichuan Provincial Farming Association to get this done. Another project involves early childhood education enrichment, providing knowledge and skills to educate first-time parents to better manage their baby and toddler development.
And our Healthcare Leadership MS/MBA program included many students who were on the front lines of fighting COVID. For example, Sam Beeler coordinated and managed the vaccination programs provided by a municipal department of health, which was responsible for vaccinating over 13,000 municipal residents, as well as thousands of individuals in neighboring towns.
[APPLAUSE]
With Sam's involvement, that community reached a greater than 80% vaccination rate. These are just a few examples among so many innovative ideas, products, services, and technologies that you've brought to life already during your time at Johnson. You were already successful before starting your degree program. And while pursuing this degree and continuing with your careers, you've produced these much-needed ideas, products, and services. Your future impact will be remarkable.
I'd also like to highlight another way in which you've already made an impact. Each generation of Johnson students benefits from those who came before. Just as you have supported one another in Johnson in so many ways as students, you've also distinguished yourselves through contributions to our annual fund. Thank you to the many students who contributed to this year's class campaigns. So thinking about all of these contributions, would everyone please join me in applauding the achievements and generosity and dedication of this wonderful--
[APPLAUSE]
Now, I'd like to address another dimension of your Johnson experience. This is the elephant in the room. I'm glad we have a big room. It's a big elephant. I'm talking, of course, about COVID. You have the distinction of being students who chose to pursue your graduate degree in the midst of a pandemic. Facing a truly unique and uncertain situation, you chose to take a risk and invest in yourselves.
A favorite quote of mine is from that great sage Mike Tyson, who said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. You willingly entered the ring. You expected a flurry of punches. You knew that you would need to demonstrate toughness and thrive to get through a challenging program and attain your goals. You demonstrated courage, as well as determination.
And as we worked through this pandemic together, we learned together. I'd like to take a moment and point out a few things that COVID highlighted, at least to me. I know that many pundits have offered their perspectives about lessons learned from COVID, and I realize that I am in real danger of engaging in what a colleague of mine calls dean-splaining, which occurs when a dean tells you something you already know, but acts like it is insightful or profound. Let's face it, though. Deans in graduation speeches often dean-splain, and this is my last chance to offer you advice where you have to actually at least act like you're listening to it. So please indulge me for just a couple of minutes.
I'm only going to mention three things. First, COVID taught us that, when we put our minds to it, humans can accomplish amazing things. Vaccine development sped from 10 years to just over 10 months. Our own Johnson MBA Angela Hwang leads Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals. And we could see through her eyes how science, ingenuity, and sheer hard work moved mountains. More generally, universities, businesses, friends and families pivoted to virtual interaction and kept right on going.
Yes, supply chains slowed. I personally was impressed at how long it took to deliver a shipment of custom 75th anniversary quarter zips. But by and large, in the face of adversity, we did press on. You pressed on. You supported each other collectively while pursuing and achieving your goals, and you succeeded.
Why am I highlighting this to you? We all know the world faces big problems. Sometimes, we can respond with fatalism and believe we can't make a difference. But you are all experienced professionals and you have already shown that you can make a difference. You are leaders. When a big challenge occurs, you may be in a position to make a real difference to the world. Please don't shy away from that challenge. You've proven you can meet it. You've proven you can make a difference.
A second thing that became readily apparent during COVID was that, even in the face of a pandemic, inequity persists. We know that there are huge differences in access to healthcare, huge differences in access to education and other critical services. We saw those on stark display. We also saw that economic status affects the latitude that people had to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
Remember when many of us were hunkered down, or perhaps in lockdown, and ordering groceries or food because of concerns about contagion. Other people were on the front lines preparing and delivering that food. Others were providing essential healthcare services. Those people, including clinicians who are graduating with us today, responded courageously. But some of the people who were working in lower-level service jobs really didn't think they had a choice, given the opportunities available to them.
Again, why highlight this to you? Again, you are leaders. You already are successful, and you will continue advancing rapidly in your careers. How will you respond to this power? I ask that you not pull up the ladder behind you. Instead, reach back and help others to rise higher. You know that helping another person, welcoming another person into the fold, contributing to their success, that's a wonderful feeling. You've certainly exercised those muscles in your degree program. Don't stop now.
And a third and final lesson is that relationships and connectivity are precious, and they have to be fed and nurtured. COVID disrupted in so many ways how we normally interact. At times, it was isolating. Technology helped, enabling us to connect in ways we couldn't before. It enabled us to Zoom in circumstances that required it and for you to be remote when you needed to be. Yet it also highlighted the absolute joy of being together in the same place at the same time. I have experienced virtual and live commencement ceremonies, and I can tell you that I vastly prefer sharing this with you and your families in person.
So what does this mean to you? Well, we all know that the world of work and how really we engage with other people has been altered. Long-term, you may be able to choose whether you work remotely or at your employer's facility. You'll be able to stay connected to friends and family wherever you are, and you'll also be able to stay connected to your work wherever you are.
That flexibility is wonderful, and that flexibility is dangerous. You will have the ability to engage or withdraw. You can invest in relationships and your own wellness, or you can work virtually all of the time because you can always work virtually. Please use this flexibility wisely. Please seek balance.
I know an Executive MBA is, in part, a degree in time management. What will you do with the bandwidth you are getting back? I hope that you use that time for relationships and activities that nourish your soul and that support your happiness, even as you seek to progress in your career and realize your ambitions.
Now, here's my ask. You know that, when you let a dean speak, there's usually an ask. So here it is. But it's pretty simple. All I ask is that you keep it up. Take the lessons you've learned, take the relationships you've made at Johnson, and keep that momentum going into the future.
From a community standpoint, you are now part of a much broader community. You're joining an alumni community of well over 15,000 Johnson graduates, well over 40,000 College of Business graduates, and well over 250,000 proud Cornellians, all part of your extended family, all bleeding Cornell red and ready to take your call. You've probably heard me say before that, at Johnson, we have each other's backs even as we push each other forward. That applies to this broader alumni community, as well.
Countless alumni have told me how much the Cornell network has meant to them, personally and professionally, throughout their careers. They can put pushpins in different spots in their career where a Cornellian made all the difference. So make a resolution to stay engaged with your class and with the school and with the college.
Attend at least one alumni event next year. Take advantage of your great Zoom expertise and stay in touch with your classmates, wherever they are. Don't let yourself drift away from this community. Immerse yourself in it and be there for your fellow alumni, just as you have been in your degree program. My pledge is that we will be here for you, as well.
Thus far, you've been mostly engaged with the students in your specific EMBA program and specific class in that program. But what brings us together from the first orientation session to the present day is our shared membership and the Johnson College and Cornell communities. Trust that the connections you've made here will last a lifetime and continue to bring you rich rewards, both personally and professionally because, as of today, as members of this community, you are together receiving the very powerful results of this unique experience, an MBA degree from Cornell University. We are immensely proud of you. All in attendance, please help me congratulate the class of 2022.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER 1: Thank you, Dean Nelson. I would now like to recognize the student council members and class representatives from the Cornell-Tsinghua FMBA, Healthcare Leadership, and Metro New York programs. Please stand and be recognized. OK, so that's the student council members and class representatives.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Next, I ask that the class of 2022 campaign agents from all programs to stand and be recognized.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
And we are pleased to recognize exemplary individuals in the class of 2022, who received awards for their significant contributions in the classroom and to their peers. I ask that the following graduates please stand to be acknowledged. Please hold your applause until all have been announced.
[? Kamila ?] Knight. Conrad Coburn. Star Gao. Frank Buchner. Samad Beeler. Mitesh Patel. Hong [INAUDIBLE] and [INAUDIBLE].
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
At this time, we'd like to recognize faculty members who have been awarded program-specific teaching awards. William Schpero is the recipient of the EMBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership Faculty Award. William is unable to be here today, and sends his thanks for this acknowledgment.
David Juran is the winner of the EMBA Metro New York Globe Award for Teaching Excellence. I think he heard that from where he is, because he's also unable to be here today. But he sends his thanks.
The recipients of the Cornell-Tsinghua Gravitas Award are Robert Frank, Robert [? Gero, ?] and Mark Nelson. Congratulations to each of you.
[APPLAUSE]
Please join me in congratulating Lee Chen, winner of the Cornell-Tsinghua Best Teacher Award. Congratulations, Lee.
[APPLAUSE]
The winner of the Cornell-Tsinghua Star Teacher Award is Ya-Ru Chen. I welcome Ya-Ru to the podium.
[APPLAUSE]
YA-RU CHEN: Thank you, Rob. Thank you, FMBA class of 2022 for the award. Being the academic dean for China Initiatives, I would first like to take the moment to give my special thanks to all my colleagues supporting the FMBA program. I'm indebted to Dean Karolyi, Dean Nelson, and program director [INAUDIBLE] for their unreserved support for the program, and also to my fellow faculty members, who successfully taught online classes while bearing incredible inconvenience, such as teaching at 7:00 AM, at midnight, even on Christmas.
That's exactly what they did. I'm also grateful to my staff team in China and Ithaca, who stood by me throughout the challenging times. Without their remarkable devotion and efforts, our FMBA program would not have been able to weather the pandemic and continue to thrive.
Now, students in the class of 2022, most of you are not here. I know you might be watching the livestream in China because you are in the lockdown mode, or you will wake up, watching the video later on. But I do hope that you hear me.
You started the program in fall 2020, the first year of the pandemic. I want to thank you for your trust, patience, endurance, flexibility, and demand in these past two years. You are the sixth cohort of the program, and you call yourself 666 Group. In Chinese, it means awesome, amazing, exceeding expectations. That's how you call yourself.
[APPLAUSE]
And indeed, you amazed me when the class leaders, your committee, wrote to Dean Nelson about contributing resources to Johnson in the first semester of the program. You also amazed me because you are the only group in the program so far able to pass Tsinghua thesis defense without anyone receiving a major revision. And thanks to amazing you, I have now developed [INAUDIBLE] crisis communication capabilities I never had before. And I have to say, boy, you could really argue, and gave me multiple rounds of [INAUDIBLE] and resubmit.
In response to your amazing demand, we rolled out 35 events these past two years on the ground in China, and built a powerful mentor program involving CEOs and chairmen of major US and UK financial firms because you said to me, Ya-Ru, we've got to do something about it, right, to make up for the value of missing US residential sessions. And so thanks to your amazing push and support, we now have [INAUDIBLE] in China, year-round distinguished speaker series, and a powerful mentor program. So we together closely live up to Vivian Green's line, "life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." You are definitely great dancers, I learned.
So moving forward, I hope you will continue to inspire and create impact to your close communities. And let us finish by citing Charles Darwin's famous quote. "It's not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who are most responsive to change." So keep going and keep adapting. Congratulations again to the awesome 666 Group. Thank you so much.
[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER 1: Thank you, Ya-Ru. That was an awesome speech. And the only thing I can think of even more awesome is that someone who can handle the crushing responsibilities of being a dean of a college can also be an excellent teacher, and win an award while doing so. So please join me in congratulating Andrew Karolyi, winner of the EMBA Americas Star Award for Teaching Excellence.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Andrew, we welcome your comments.
ANDREW KAROLYI: Thank you, Robert. I am so pleased to stand before you right now. The word that has been in my mind in the last several hours and the last day or so has been the word inspire. I feel inspired. You inspire me.
I've been in a dean role for several years now, and I knew something was missing for me, and that was my first love and joy, which is to teach students. I'm very pleased to tell you that 14 years ago, these colleagues up here on the stage invited me to join them on the faculty of the SC Johnson Graduate School of Management. It was undoubtedly the most important day of my professional life, and I've been in the business 31 years.
When they invited me to join their faculty, they suggested to me that maybe I could teach in this innovative format. It was called the Cornell Queen's Executive MBA Program at the time. Now, it's called the EMBA Americas. I was asked to teach core finance, and they explained to me that it was this boardroom technology with distance learning, primarily on the weekends, and I said, why not?
And the truth of the matter is, I fell in love with the students that I was fortunate to be able to teach, and I just love the format. So after four years of deaning and not having had the access to the classroom, I knew I desperately needed it, so I begged the opportunity, and I'm looking at you guys now. You inspire me because you welcomed me back. You welcomed me at a time where I really want it to be there. And I cannot tell you how grateful I am.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
There was another motivation, and I know you know it because you remember, it was the very first session we had together and the first class. The world of business is undergoing a sea change with perspectives on thinking about business for the greater good. The concept of stakeholder responsibility and business leaders. And I know you were learning about that in your program.
One of the interesting challenges for business education is, how exactly do we incorporate that into our curriculum? We have to be innovative, and we have to be agile, and we have to move really fast. Because the world is expecting this of us, right? And so one of the things that I took upon myself when I agreed to teach core finance, when you agreed to welcome me back, was to teach in a way that was different, that was respectful and honoring this whole sea change towards this ESG investing movement.
And even if it meant it challenging the fundamental paradigms underlying finance, it was going to be financing a little bit of a different way. And guess what? You rallied. You rallied to that. You were willing to go for it, and you inspired me. You inspired me. I'm so grateful for the people that are standing on this stage.
If I can just say how grateful I am to have as my colleagues these faculty. I hope you shake their hands, you come up to them, and you see them-- even the ones that may not have taught you. They also inspire me every single day that I get to come to work.
Can I also point out that there's a number of people in this room that are a little bit incognito? They might be wearing Team Johnson red shirts. They were helping you. They were handing out waters. They're here on a Saturday. That is not a day that they're working. They are an incredible staff in this college.
As you inspire me and my faculty colleagues inspire me, they inspire me. They really make the big difference for what can be a successful graduate school of management and a college of business. Can I ask you to join me in applause for the many staff people that are here among us?
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
Thank you so much for this honor. It's just so wonderful, and I'll see you in reception afterwards.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER 1: It is now time for the recognition of graduates. We realize that, given COVID, some of you may not want to shake hands. If you want to shake, just put your hand out. If not, no action is needed. Ya-Ru, you can begin.
YA-RU CHEN: I'm Ya-Ru Chen again, Academic Dean of China Initiatives. And speaking on behalf of the Cornell FBA program, I ask the [INAUDIBLE] the FMBA graduate representative, please stand and come forward to be honored. We only have one student who was able to travel to Ithaca from Singapore.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
So even though other students cannot be with us today, we hold them in our hearts and are very proud of them, of what they have accomplished in the program.
[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER 2: Congratulations.
[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER 3: [INAUDIBLE], director of the EMBA, MS, and health care leadership program. It is now a time to honor our degree recipients. I ask that the health care leadership graduates please stand and come to the stage to be honored.
[READING NAMES]
Congratulations to our EMBA, MS, and health care leadership graduates.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
SARAH LYNN IANNI: I'm Sarah Lynn Ianni, executive director for EMBA Metro New York, and I have the pleasure of welcoming our EMBA Metro New York students to the stage.
[READING NAMES]
Congratulations, EMBA Metro New York.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
VERNE THALHEIMER: I'm Verne Thalheimer, director of the Executive MBA Americas program.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
It is my pleasure to announce the names of our EMBA America's class of 2022 graduates. Please stand and be recognized.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
[READING NAMES]
ANDREW KAROLYI: Graduations to all of our graduates.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
You've achieved a great deal, and we'll miss seeing you in the boardrooms, at class weekends at Cornell Tech, and on our gorgeous Ithaca Cornell campus. Please keep in touch as you progress through your lives and your careers. Although we're here to recognize our graduates, we also want to acknowledge the family and friends who are here today.
Very special thanks to you, who have truly made these accomplishments possible. Thank you for your support, patience, and endless understanding. Graduates, please join me in thanking all your family and friends.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
Finally, please join me in thanking the many staff and volunteers who are here this holiday weekend to make your graduation a special and memorable occasion for you and your guests. We could not do it without them. Thank you.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
Following this ceremony, we invite all graduates and families to please join us for a reception at Sage Hall. All EMBA students, families, and friends are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there. You will be able to return your regalia here in the back of Newman Arena and at Sage Hall outside classroom 141.
As graduates of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, you play a critical role in the future of our. School I urge you to stay in touch with each other and with us. We trust that Johnson and Cornell will continue to be instrumental in helping you realize your goals, and that the friendships that you forged in this program will last your entire life. Again, congratulations class of 2022.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
I would like to ask everyone to stand, continue standing, and join us in singing the alma mater. You'll find the words on the back of your program.
ALL: (SINGING) Far above Cayuga's waters, with its waves of blue, stands our noble alma mater, glorious to view. Lift the chorus, speed it onward. Loud her praises tell. Hail to thee, our alma mater! Hail, all hail, Cornell!
Far above the busy humming of the bustling town, reared against the arch of heaven, looks she proudly down. Lift the chorus, speed it onward. Loud her praises tell. Hail to thee, our alma mater! Hail, all hail, Cornell!
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
ANDREW KAROLYI: Please remain standing for the recessional of our faculty and graduates. Thank you, and have a wonderful weekend and an amazing future.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Executive MBA Recognition Ceremony 2022
