For Eight Years, Annual Commencement Eve Celebration Has Recognized Excellence
05/15/2015
Media Contacts: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell today announced that its annual Commencement Eve Celebrations have raised more than $3.2 million for student scholarships since the event was introduced in 2008.
The celebration – which will be held from 5 to 8:30 p.m. today – is the single largest fundraising event for scholarships at UMass Lowell each year and honors some of the best and brightest among the graduating class as well as recipients of honorary degrees and the Distinguished Alumni Award.
“Each year, this celebration recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding graduating seniors, alumni and individuals who are making a difference in their communities and around the world. As we cross the milestone of $3.2 million raised since 2008 for student scholarships, we must also recognize the generosity of those who have supported this event over the last eight years, including many faculty and staff,” said Marty Meehan, who will attend the event as chancellor of UMass Lowell for the last time before he becomes UMass president July 1.
Actor, education advocate and entrepreneur LeVar Burton, who will serve as Commencement speaker at tomorrow’s Commencement exercises, will be among the participants in the eighth annual event.
The program, which will be held at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, kicks off at 5 p.m. with the presentation of student awards and a question-and-answer session with the honorary degree recipients moderated by UMass Lowell Executive Vice Chancellor Jacqueline Moloney. Burton will offer brief remarks later in the evening.
Joining Burton at today’s event, as well as tomorrow, will be fellow honorary degree recipients – Carole Cowan, former president of Middlesex Community College; Barry Perry ’68, former chairman and CEO of Engelhard Inc.; John Sampas, literary executor of beat generation icon Jack Kerouac’s estate; and Donato Tramuto, CEO and chairman of Physicians Interactive – and Distinguished Alumni Award winner Lorenzo Cabrera ’94.
Burton, whose career spans five decades, is the recipient of 12 Emmy Awards, a Grammy and five NAACP Awards for his work as an actor, director, writer, producer and program host. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in the groundbreaking TV miniseries “Roots” and the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” TV series and films. But it is as the host and executive producer of “Reading Rainbow,” the third longest-running children’s series on PBS, that he has perhaps had the most impact. The series, which earned more than 200 honors including a Peabody Award and 26 Emmys, inspired countless children to read during the 26-year run that ended in 2009. In 2012, Burton and business partner Mark Wolfe launched RRKidz, an all-digital educational publishing company, through a Kickstarter campaign that raised $6.5 million. Now a digital reading service with offerings including more than 500 children’s books, “Reading Rainbow” is the No. 1 educational app on iTunes and plans for 2015 include introducing versions for the web and the classroom with a special emphasis on those in economically challenged schools.
Top student award winners recognized at the Commencement Eve Celebration include three valedictorians, all of whom will be presented with the Trustees’ Key in recognition of the perfect 4.0 grade-point averages they have maintained for their entire college career at UMass Lowell. They are Jeremy Poulin of Hudson, N.H., and Michael Stowell of Tewksbury, both computer science majors. All three will also receive the Chancellor’s Medal for Academic Achievement, which recognizes the top achievers in each of the university’s schools and colleges, as well as its Division of Online and Continuing Education.
Chancellor’s Medals for Academic Achievement will go to Thaylon Barreto of Revere, a biology major, and Christopher Sanders of Cypress, Texas, an information technology major (College of Sciences); Courtney Bean of Littleton, a nutritional science major, Kristen Palmer of Pembroke, N.H., an exercise physiology major, and Colleen Silva of Woburn, a nursing major (College of Health Sciences); Eric Johnson of Georgetown, a psychology major (College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences); Alison LeBlanc of Ocala Fla., a psychology major (Division of Online and Continuing Education); Viet Le of Lawrence, a civil engineering major, and Patrick Logan of Lowell, a mechanical engineering major (College of Engineering); and Timothy Lyman of Andover and Richard Rollka of Tewksbury, both business administration majors (Manning School of Business).
The University Scholar-Athlete Award will be given to Aaron Martin of Nashua, N.H., a business administration major and member of the men’s cross-country and track teams.
The Chancellor’s Medal for Student Service will be awarded to Phillip Geoffroy of Chelmsford, a political science major who served as UMass student trustee; Genesis Peralta of Lawrence, an English major; Idaresit Uko of Shrewsbury, a psychology major; and Keval Bhagat of Lowell, Kayla Coluci of Burlington, Allen Iem of Lowell, Ibrahim Lahlaf of Billerica and Christopher Tran of Needham, all business administration majors.
The University Medal for Community Service will be presented to Lindsey Burgess of Lowell, psychology; Catherine Charles of Boston, nutritional science; Kevin Desjardins of Methuen, civil engineering; Hector Rivera of Methuen, psychology; Rachel Saunders of Methuen, political science; and Michelle Wojcik of Douglas, criminal justice and psychology.
UMass Lowell Commencement ceremonies will take place tomorrow at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Lowell. For the eighth year in a row, a record number – 3,714 – will graduate, nearly double the total that received diplomas in 2007. This reflects the 48 percent growth in enrollment at UMass Lowell since 2007. The student body now numbers more than 17,000 and represents more than 50 countries around the world.
- Carole Cowan, who was Middlesex Community College president for 25 years before her retirement this year, began her career with the college in 1976 as a business faculty member and went on to serve as a dean before being named president in 1990. Under her leadership, the college established permanent campuses in Bedford and Lowell and led the development of the Commonwealth’s first privately financed capital pool to construct the Health, Science and Technology Center. Cowan, with the support of the college’s foundation, oversaw the renovation of the historic Nesmith House in Lowell and the Middlesex Meetinghouse in Billerica, and led the campaign to acquire the federal building in Lowell’s Kearney Square for use by the college, securing funding for three more academic buildings. During her tenure, the college engaged in new international partnerships and training programs, initiatives with businesses and public schools on economic and workforce development and education reform, including establishing one of Massachusetts’ first charter schools. Her civic commitment includes serving on several boards and committees at the local and state levels. A native of Lynn who lives in Manchester-by-the-Sea, she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Salem State University and a doctorate in higher education administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
- Barry Perry, who led one of the world’s largest chemical and metals companies prior to his retirement. A member of the board of directors of Arrow Electronics Inc. since 1999 he has been lead director since 2011. In recognition of his support for UMass Lowell, which includes the Barry W. Perry Plastics Engineering Endowment for student scholarships, the engineering building was renamed Perry Hall and the Perry Atrium in the Mark and Elisia Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center was established. A past recipient of the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award, Perry was an honorary member of the steering committee of the Department of Plastics Engineering 50th Anniversary Celebration, helping to raise more than $11 million for the department and serving as the keynote speaker at the event attended by more than 500 alumni from across the U.S. Perry earned a degree in plastics engineering from Lowell Technological Institute, one of UMass Lowell’s predecessor institutions, and lives in Newtown, Pa.
- John Sampas, who has led several successful initiatives supporting the arts and celebrating the life and works of Kerouac, who was Sampas’ brother-in-law. Under Sampas’ management, publishing of Kerouac’s works has flourished and Sampas has played a key role in establishing monuments in Lowell that feature quotations from notable Kerouac books. Sampas is a contributor to “Lowell Celebrates Kerouac,” the annual celebration of the writer’s legacy, and his support of UMass Lowell’s College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences includes establishing the Jack and Stella Kerouac Center for American Studies Endowment Fund and the John Sampas Endowed Scholarship Fund. He has also granted publication and image rights for special projects that benefit student scholarships and the academic activities of the university, including library resources, and allowed UMass Lowell, in partnership with Merrimack Repertory Theatre, to stage the world premiere of Kerouac’s only full-length play, “Beat Generation,” in 2012. Sampas, who lives in Lowell, attended Boston Conservatory and Marietta College, and studied at Washburn University while serving in the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command.
- Donato Tramuto, who leadsReading-based Physicians Interactive, founded Protocare Inc., provider of drug development and disease management services; worked with Caremark, where he championed the company’s national disease management program for HIV/AIDS; and launched Health eVillages following the devastating earthquake in Haiti to provide state-of-the-art mobile health technology and support for medical professionals in challenging clinical environments around the world. He is the founder and chairman of the Tramuto Foundation, a nonprofit created to help young people achieve their educational goals that has supported more than 50 organizations worldwide. He serves on boards including those of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Leadership Council and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, Europe. A resident of Ogunquit, Maine, he has been named as one of the Top 100 Most Inspirational Health Care Leaders in the Life Sciences Industry and as one of the Top 12 Innovators in Massachusetts. Last year, he received the PharmaVOICE Red Jacket Award for furthering the life sciences industry through leadership, innovation, mentorship and philanthropy, and the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award for nearly three decades of work on global access to health care and commitment to social entrepreneurship.
- Lorenzo Cabrera, founder and chairman of the board of Cabrera Services Inc., an award-winning company based in East Hartford, Conn., with offices around the nation. The company – the 2009 U.S. Small Business Administration’s Region I Subcontractor of the Year – specializes in radiological and environmental remediation, health physics, radioactive and mixed waste management, and depleted uranium munitions response. Cabrera, who earned a bachelor’s degree in radiological health physics at UMass Lowell, has received individual honors including the SBA’s Small Business Person of the Year for Connecticut and UMass Lowell’s Francis Cabot Lowell Young Alumni Award for Sciences. He established the Lorenzo J. Cabrera Endowed Scholarship Fund for students pursuing degrees in UMass Lowell’s College of Sciences and the Lorenzo J. Cabrera Hockey Endowment Fund. Cabrera, who resides in East Hampton, Conn., and Miami, has also given generously to the Edward Lawson Alexander Fund, which provides fellowships to students in the radiological sciences program.
UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 17,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, engineering, education, fine arts, health, humanities, liberal arts, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers.
For more information on the honorees and Commencement activities, visit www.uml.edu/commencement.
UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 17,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers. www.uml.edu