Pardee School Celebrates 2018 Convocation
The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies celebrated its Convocation with a ceremony that brought together students, faculty and family for a day that commemorated the achievements of the Class of 2018.
The convocation was held Saturday, May 19, 2018 at Boston University’s Walter Brown Arena. A beautiful day greeted the approximately 2,000 guests and 30 faculty members who celebrated the freshly-minted Pardee School alumni.
“My charge to you today, Class of 2018, is to rise above bigotry when you see it, seek out truth in the face of made-up facts, never stop questioning, speak for justice whenever you see injustice, heed the call of your conscience whenever it calls out to you, break the idols of intolerance, shatter the walls of petty identity, and scale the peaks of your own humanity. Go forth and make the world a better place,” said Pardee School Dean Adil Najam, addressing the graduates.
The 221 undergraduates and 47 graduate students will join the more than 9,000 alumni from programs currently under the purview of the Pardee School.
The Convocation ceremony included remarks from Najam, as well as the presentation of the following awards:
- The Carole A. Chandler Citizenship Award, to Zachary Scott Thomas
- The CAS (College of Arts and Sciences) Prize for Undergraduate Academic Excellence, to Jonathan Richard Hauser
- The Pardee School Graduate Academic Excellence Award, to Avik Jain
- The Pardee School Undergraduate Academic Excellence Award, to Casey Kanani Nakamura, Coby Andrew Yank-Jacobs and Maria Clara Soares Bezerra
- The Amb. Hermann Frederick Eilts Graduate Thesis Award, to Florian David Bodamer
- The Amb. Hermann Frederick Eilts Undergraduate Thesis Award, to Noe Karen Hinck
- The Gerald and Deanne Gitner Family Prize for Faculty Excellence, to Kaija Schilde
Awards were presented by Najam with assistance from Susan Eckstein, Professor of International Relations and Sociology; Kevin Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy and Director of the Global Development Policy Center; and William Grimes, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Convocation also provided an opportunity to thank and honor Professor of International Relations and History William Keylor and Senior Lecturer Wilfrid Rollman for their distinguished careers and numerous contributions to the field of International Relations as well as to the Pardee School, its students, faculty and staff. Associate Professor of International Relations Michael Corgan read a tribute to Keylor, Professor of International Relations and History Houchang Chehabi read a tribute to Rollman, and Dean Adil Najam presented Keylor and Rollman with gifts on behalf of the Pardee School.
“Wil Rollman has taught at Boston University since 1996, making an indelible mark on both colleagues and students with his selflessness, enthusiasm, and encyclopedic knowledge of Middle Eastern and North African affairs,” Chehabi said. “Students who have taken his two courses “Understanding the Middle East” and “Understanding North Africa” have benefited from his cultural intimacy with the area, the fruit of decades of frequent visits, a number of year-long sojourns, and immersion in the local cultures and languages.”
Najam thanked Keylor for the pivotal and formative roles he played in the development of the Pardee School, and on the recommendation of the faculty conferred on him the status of Professor Emeritus at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. Najam also presented Keylor with a commemorative gift on behalf of the Pardee School.
Najam also announced at Convocation that to honor Keylor’s many contributions to Boston University and to the Pardee School, especially to undergraduate education, a special fund has been established – with an initial contribution from Pardee School Dean’s Advisory Board member Karen Ansara – to support international travel for research by Pardee School undergraduates.
Several Pardee School faculty members, including Najam, have already contributed to the Keylor Undergraduate Travel Fund and invited others to join them in doing so. Gifts to the Keylor Fund can be made directly here, and should include a “Keylor Travel Fund” designation in the notes section.
“Professor William Keylor is truly one of the pillars of the Pardee School. He has been with the School and the preceding International Relations Department since the beginning,” Corgan said. “He was also Chair of the History Department from 1988-2000 and has been Director of the International History Institute since 1999. In addition to all this, his lecture courses for Pardee School have been easily the most popular ones and his many books on international affairs are widely praised.”
Director of Graduate Studies Amb. Robert Loftis was assisted by Director of the African Studies Center and Professor of Anthropology Fallou Ngom and Professor of the Practice of International Relations and former Director of Graduate Studies Joseph Wippl in the conferring of degrees to Master of Arts candidates.
Associate Dean Grimes was assisted in the conferring of degrees to Bachelor of Arts candidates by Director of the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs and Associate Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Timothy Longman; Assistant Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Michael Woldemariam; Professor of the Practice of International Relations, John D. Woodward Jr.; and Research Professor Jessica Stern.
The ceremony also honored the students selected as members of the International Relations Honors Program. They are: Maria Clara Soares Bezerra, Elizabeth Burke, Naomi Carolan, Sofie Engen, Andrew Gellerman, Jonathan Hauser, Noe Hinck, Kayla Izenman, Christopher Kimura, Wenyin Lu, James Paige, Elizabeth Pell, Jocelyn Perry, Paulina Prasad, Maisie Silver, Aastha Thakkar, Mariana Villa Turbay, Catherine Willis, Catherine Woods.
“The IR Honors program is a yearlong intensive research project,” said Grimes. “The students who have been selected to participate in this program are among the most academically accomplished in their class. The program culminates in a thesis defense before a panel of BU professors representing a variety of disciplines.”
Graduating members of the Dean’s Ambassadors program were acknowledged in the Convocation bulletin. Dean’s Ambassadors are comprised of both graduate and undergraduate students and represent the Pardee School Dean and the school at special events, with prospective students, alumni, and distinguished guests. They serve as a liaison to the wider BU community as well as prospective students and families. Graduating members of the Dean’s Ambassadors program include: Saliha Agha, Ruiming Zhu, Shanuki S. Tillekeratne, Zachary Scott Thomas, and Kayla Helene Izenman.
Najam also led a moment of silence in honor of the five Pardee School faculty members who passed away over the last year including Professor David Fromkin, Professor Peter Berger, Professor Farhang Mehr, Professor Arthur Hulnick and Professor David Scott Palmer.
After the ceremony, students and guests enjoyed a reception, photobooth and the opportunity to reflect on their rite of passage. You can watch a recording of the ceremony below:
For more coverage of the Pardee School convocation ceremony, search the hashtag #PardeePride on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.