COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER EXHORTED GRADUATES TO BE COURAGEOUS, DEDICATED AND INNOVATIVE
More than 3,800 students received undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees in three ceremonies at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The addition of a third ceremony was made this year in order to accommodate the growing size of the spring/summer graduating classes. Echoing themes of courage, dedication and innovation, Old Dominion University graduation speakers challenged students to leave their mark on their community, the country and the world at the school's 114th commencement exercises on Saturday, May 7.
Adriane M. Brown, president and COO of Intellectual Ventures, spoke to graduates from the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology as well as the College of Arts and Letters. Brown's company collaborates with leading inventors, partners with pioneering companies and invests both expertise and capital in the development and monetization of inventions and patent portfolios.
Brown told graduates that she still vividly remembered her graduation day from Old Dominion University in 1980. She said she hoped the graduates were "comfortable" with what they've accomplished so far in their lives. "I know how much work it takes to get here, and how important this achievement is," she said.
In being proud of that accomplishment, Brown told graduates now to "be prepared to let it all go." She noted that we as people have a tendency to seek comfort. "But comfort zones breed conventional thinking and business-as-usual actions," she said.
"The truth is that it's only when we're willing to think the unthinkable, to take unorthodox action, to set aside our comfort, it's only when we are willing to sacrifice what we are for what we can become, that we can truly unleash the unlimited power of our minds and the endless force of our creative spirit," Brown concluded.Old Dominion also honored six graduates as Alumni Association Outstanding College Scholars at the May 7 commencement exercises.Civil engineering major Calvin Whealton, of Norfolk, who had a 4.0 cumulative GPA in the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology, was named the overall Outstanding University Scholar. Whealton served as president of the university chapter of Chi Epsilon, the national civil engineering honor society (2009-11), and was a recipient of the Virginia Lakes and Watersheds Association Leo Bourassa Scholarship in 2010. Whealton, who was home-schooled prior to attending ODU, plans to enroll in Cornell University's M.S./Ph.D. program in environmental and water resource engineering.
The College was additionally represented by Joseph Dunne, a Naval ROTC student graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering technology, who was named runner-up for the Kaufman Prize, one of the highest student honors at ODU. Dunne ranked ninth in the country, out of 307 officer candidates and midshipmen, on the National Surface Warfare Officer Ship Selection Order of Merit list.