Senator John Kerry to Speak at Mount Ida College Commencement; Honorable Barbara A. Lenk, Associate Justice, and Gerald Chertavian, Founder and CEO of Year Up, To Receive Honorary Degrees
March 7, 2012
Newton, MA – Mount Ida College is pleased to announce that Senator John Kerry (D) will deliver the College’s commencement address on Friday, May 18, 2012 at 11 a.m. on campus.
“John Kerry has spent much of his life dedicated to the public service of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and our nation,” stated Dr. Lance Carluccio, President of Mount Ida College. “He will be an inspiration to our students, parents and the Mount Ida community as his commitment to serve others has made a positive impact on our local communities and the world. We are honored to have him join us.”
John Kerry is the Senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee; he is the 10th most senior member of the United States Senate. Kerry is a leader on the top domestic and foreign policy issues of the day, fighting on behalf of the Commonwealth to create jobs, combat global climate change, strengthen health care, and address the threats of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also served as a member of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction. In 2004, Kerry was the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States.
Upon graduating Yale, Kerry joined the Navy and served two tours in Vietnam, earning a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts for leadership, courage, and sacrifice under fire. After graduating from Boston College Law School, John Kerry served as a top prosecutor in Middlesex County, and as Lt. Governor before being elected to Congress in 1984.
At commencement, Mount Ida College will award honorary Doctor of Law degrees to Senator John Kerry and Honorable Barbara A. Lenk, Associate Justice, and Doctor of Human Letters degree to Gerald Chertavian, Founder and CEO, Year Up, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing young urban adults with the essential skills necessary for successful transitions to careers and higher education.
About Honorable Barbara A. Lenk
Honorable Barbara A. Lenk, Associate Justice, was appointed to the Supreme Judicial Court by Governor Deval Patrick in 2011. She previously served on the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Superior Court, to which both positions she was appointed by Governor William Weld in 1995 and 1993, respectively. Prior, she was partner at Boston law firm Brown, Rudnick, Freed & Gesmer (now known as Brown Rudnick LLP) focusing on civil litigation, with a specialty in First Amendment matters. She received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Fordham University; a Ph.D. in political philosophy from Yale University; and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Lenk has served on numerous boards, including the Board of Directors of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association and the Board of Editors of the Boston Bar Journal. She currently serves as a Trustee of Western New England University and as a member of the Boston Inn of Court.
About Gerald Chertavian
Gerald Chertavian is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Year Up, a non-profit dedicated to providing young urban adults with the essential skills necessary for successful transitions to careers and higher education. He has received many awards and been featured in publications like Time Magazine, Fortune Small Business, and BusinessWeek in recognition of his work. Gerald began his career at the Chemical Banking Corporation as an officer, and then became head of marketing at Transnational Financial Services in London. In 1993, he co-founded Conduit Communications, which was sold to i-Cube in 1999. He earned a B.A. in Economics, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, from Bowdoin College and an M.B.A., with honors, from Harvard Business School. In 2008, Governor Deval Patrick appointed him to serve on the MA State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Chertavian currently serves on a number of boards, including Bowdoin College, The Boston Foundation and the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative. To learn more about Year Up, visit www.yearup.org.
About Commencement
Mount Ida expects to confer approximately 200 degrees from the College’s five schools: Animal Science, Arts and Sciences, Business, Design and the New England Institute. For more information on commencement activities, please visit “Commencement 2012” on the homepage of www.mountida.edu.