Speakers

December Speakers:

Advanced Degrees, Friday, December 11, 7:00 p.m.
Robert Tjian, president of Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Md. Tjian will speak at the advanced degree ceremony, where he will receive an honorary doctor of science degree.

He studies the biochemical steps involved in controlling how genes are turned on and off. An HHMI investigator since 1987 and a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California-Berkeley, Tjian discovered proteins that play a critical role in controlling how genetic information is transcribed and translated into the biomolecules that keep cells, tissues and organisms alive.

Baccalaureate Degrees, Saturday, December 12, 10 a.m.
Edward Minskoff, president of Edward J. Minskoff Equities Inc., a New York-based real estate acquisition and development company. Minskoff will address undergraduates from James Madison College, the Eli Broad College of Business and the colleges of Arts and Letters, Education, Music and Social Science. He will receive an honorary doctor of business degree and also holds an economic degree from MSU.

Most active in the Manhattan, N.Y., office building market, Edward J. Minskoff Equities Inc. recently acquired Marriott Corp.'s 866,000-sq.-ft. world headquarters and developed a 240,000-sq.-ft. office building for the Federal Aviation Administration. Other acquisitions include a 1 million-sq.-ft. IBM building and Avenue of the Americas office buildings in New York City. Prior to founding his company in 1987, while at Olympia & York, Minskoff was responsible for 16 projects that yielded 23 million square feet and an estimated development cost of $3.5 billion.

Baccalaureate Degrees, Saturday, December 12, 2:00 p.m.
Regarded as a leader of the global breast cancer movement, Nancy G. Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, will address undergraduates from the colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Communication Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Natural Science, Nursing and the Lyman Briggs College, and receive an honorary doctor of humanities.

Brinker founded the nonprofit group in 1982 after her sister, Susan G. Komen, died from breast cancer. It is now the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, operating in 125 American cities and several foreign countries.

The organization's trademark fundraising event is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, a series of 5K runs and walks around the world. Each year, more than 1.5 million people participate in 130 races around the world. Thanks to such races, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has generated more than $1.3 billion, the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer. Last spring, the organization celebrated the 20th anniversary of the First National Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C., while also celebrating the birth of the first Global Race for the Cure.

The announcement of Brinker's visit to campus comes as a team from MSU's Breslin Cancer Center has been awarded nearly $40,000 to develop a clinic for the survivors of breast cancer, hoping to reduce mortality and improve quality of life. The grant, from the Mid-Michigan Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, will support a new program called "Changing Tomorrow's Breast Cancer Survivors."

The multidisciplinary MSU team will consist of a medical oncologist, oncology social worker and nurse educator. Survivors will talk to members of the team, focusing on healthy lifestyles and recommendations to avoid recurrence.

"I am honored and delighted at the opportunity to address Michigan State University's class of 2009 at the December commencement ceremonies," Brinker said. "As one of the nation's premier institutions of higher learning, MSU is recognized worldwide for the excellence of its curriculum and for the noteworthy contributions Spartan alumni have made in so many important fields of endeavor."

In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded Brinker the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. That same year, she was named Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control for the United Nation's World Health Organization. Brinker has also served as ambassador to the Republic of Hungary.

"As we remember those who have lost their battle with breast cancer and those who continue to fight, it's an honor to welcome Nancy G. Brinker to our campus," said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. "Susan G. Komen for the Cure's steadfast dedication to breast cancer research parallels MSU's commitment to engaging in meaningful research that affects thousands of lives."

Speaker Recommendations

We invite Michigan State University undergraduate and graduate students to submit names of notable persons for consideration as speakers at the central undergraduate and graduate commencement ceremonies. The nominees should be people whose accomplishments and values are exemplary. The speaker selections should enhance the ceremonies without deflecting due attention from the graduates, whose academic achievements are being recognized. 

Guidelines for selection, as defined by past student committees, include the following:

1. Someone having broad appeal. A speaker who will recognize that the commencement audience is a large group of individuals with a diverse range of values, interests and concerns.

2. The speaker will deliver an appropriate message. Keep in mind that the commencement address is unidirectional. The audience does not respond.

3. Someone who is motivational.

4. Someone with name  or with national and/or international standing.

5. Someone who is considered an exemplary role model.

6. Someone who is interesting and engaging.

Lists of nominees will be compiled and shared with the president. Final selections rest with the president of the University. Please be aware that identifying and securing external speakers is a complex process involving many considerations and requiring a firm commitment on the part of those invited. 

Please include with your recommendation a brief identification of the individual being nominated and the ceremony (graduate or undergraduate; semester and year) for which you are nominating the person. Be aware that selection and arrangements normally take a minimum of six months to complete. 

Send E-mail recommendations to acadevnt@msu.edu