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[APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYING]
SUZANNE SHU: OK. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Suzanne Shu. I'm the-- sorry. I forgot who I am for a moment. So good afternoon. Welcome to the ceremony. I'm Suzanne Shu. I'm the SC Johnson Dean of Faculty and Research here at the SC Johnson College of Business. I'm also the John S. Dyson professor in marketing for the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. And I'm deeply thrilled to be able to welcome you here today.
Before we start, as part of today's ceremony, we take a moment and we acknowledge that Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogohono, the Cayuga Nation. The Gayogohono are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of sovereign nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land.
The confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell, University, of New York State, and of the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of the Gayogohono dispossession and honor the ongoing connection of the Gayogohono people, past and present, to these lands and waters.
Now we're going to go ahead and get started by welcoming our graduates. So please stand as they come in. And please congratulate and welcome the class of 2024.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Go ahead and please be seated. Good afternoon. A big welcome to the Dyson Graduate Recognition Ceremony and honor of the class of 2024. Very excited to see you all.
[APPLAUSE]
Before we begin the formal part of the program, I'm going to go ahead and introduce some of the faculty and individuals up here on the stage who are going to be helping us with the ceremony today. I'm going to start with the Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Andrew Karolyi, who you'll be hearing from in a minute.
Also, the David J. Nolan Dean of the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Dean Jinhua Zhao, who you'll also be hearing from. Also on stage helping out today, Calum Turvey, the Director of the Graduate Studies for the Master of Science program. Where's Cal? On that side. Stephen Shu, Professor of Practice and CEMS Program Director.
David Lennox, Senior Lecturer of Management Communication and Director of Undergraduate Studies. Sarah Wolfolds, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Academic Director of the Grand Challenges Program. And James Stapp, lecturer of management communication. And they'll be reading a bunch of the names today.
We also have a full house of other Dyson faculty up here who we are so glad to have, helping out and cheering on our graduates today. And so thank you to all of the faculty for showing up today and being part of this ceremony.
[APPLAUSE]
The Dyson School is uniquely a part of both the SC Johnson College of Business and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences here at Cornell. Today, we are excited to be joined by the Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, who is also the Harold Biermann Junior Distinguished Professor of Management, Andrew Karolyi.
Dean Karolyi is a world renowned scholar in investment management with a specialization in international financial markets, and he's published extensively in academic journals and several books. He received his Bachelor in Arts in Economics from McGill University and earned his MBA and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. So please welcome Dean Karolyi to the stage.
[APPLAUSE]
ANDREW KAROLYI: Congratulations 2024 graduates. Hey.
[APPLAUSE]
My job today is to welcome you to the newest stage of your relationship with your alma mater. As most valued alumni, you will remain critical numbers of our community and we will continue to rely on you and your participation and value your voices. Now, how do we do that?
Well, every year, we invite alumni from all around the world at various events to join our faculty and staff in defining a theme every year across a number of signature alumni events. This year, this past year, we chose the theme deeply responsible leadership. You may have seen me talk about it, some of the students here, over the course of the year at different events that we sponsored around campus. What does that mean?
Well, for decades now, business leaders have been told that their responsibility was to the bottom line, to elevate profits and returns over all else, as embodied in one of my favorite Milton Friedman quotes. Quote, "There is one and only one responsibility of business. To use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game." Frankly, people forget the last bit of that phrase, shortchanging Professor Friedman, but that's another story for another day.
The truth is that businesses and business leaders, which you will become, have struggled with their understanding of what their ultimate responsibilities are, at least for a couple of hundred years now. What we're seeing today is that society is challenging us to rethink the fundamental responsibility of business leaders, and it's really quite hard to pin down.
In his 2022 book, Deeply Responsible Leadership, business historian Geoffrey Jones asks us to reflect on the history of deeply responsible leaders through a number of case studies and very, very careful research. Here's what he concludes. He concludes that they are agile, with a mindset that can quickly understand opportunities. Deeply responsible leaders assess situations. They use data as discipline. They formulate strategies, they make decisions, and they take bold action.
They have a growth mindset and they strive to remove roadblocks. They're people centered leaders who value inclusivity and belonging, because organizations make better decisions harnessing collective wisdom. They always consider the communities in which they operate and the implications of their operations for the natural environment. And they think about all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
Is it easy to be a deeply responsible leader? Hardly. Jones points out that balancing conflicting stakeholder concerns, especially when you're in an era, maybe not too dissimilar than the one we're in right now, where there are some very complex geopolitical challenges before our world. There are all sorts of legal risks, often too hard to comply with regulatory regimes. These just make it complex for competing priorities.
Now, that list of attributes, they do sound like pretty lofty expectations of you. And I'm looking at each of you now. But with your newly minted degrees from the Dyson School, I believe that each of you are up to the task. At Cornell and the SC Johnson College of Business, our complex, nuanced, and much debated understanding of what constitutes deeply responsible corporate leadership, what drives deeply responsible leaders, and honestly why it all matters in the end, it's embedded in our mission. To develop the responsible business leaders of tomorrow, agile, people centered, data disciplined, broadly stakeholder, motivated.
Now, perhaps not surprisingly, I have a unique Cornellian spin on that mission and that concept of deeply responsible leadership directly from our founding benefactor, Ezra Cornell himself. It's found in an 1840 letter he wrote to his son, Alonzo. 1840 is 25 years before he founded this university, before he made his millions with Western Union and the telegraph and cable company that he founded.
He was communicating to his son about the virtue in establishing what he calls, quote, "a character upon a fixed principle to do right because it is right for the sake of right and nothing else. Every act should be measured by that rule. Is it right? Let a pure heart prompt an honest conscience to answer the question and all will be well." 1840, Ezra Cornell.
Let's all live up to Ezra Cornell's lofty founding principles for our University and his pragmatic advice to his own son. We develop business leaders who are here to do the greatest good. So now you're graduates. I encourage you to continue to bring that advice, that advice, forward in a truly Cornellian fashion. Put people first. Draw on the DNA of Cornell in thinking about the ultimate responsibilities of business for people, for society at large, as well as the natural environment.
Cornellians are community minded, so they think about collaboration and engagement more and less about 0 sum games. Courageously experiment with new ideas and approaches. Develop entrepreneurial solutions to pressing global problems, reducing inequality, advancing climate action, building sustainable cities, championing responsible consumption and production, prioritizing good health, decent work, well being. Be inclusive and bring that ethos to the organizations, you will lead. As principled business leaders, think deeply about your responsibilities and your impact.
So as your time as Cornellians draw to a close at Cornell draws to a close and you embark on the next phase of your journey, please never forget that you're joining a supportive, truly supportive global community of nearly 50,000 College of Business alumni around the world, more than 250,000 Cornellians alumni out there in the world. Take every opportunity to engage, connect, and continue to strengthen the network that makes Cornell, our college, our Dyson School, so, so powerful. Congratulations and go Big Red.
[APPLAUSE]
SUZANNE SHU: Now we get to move on to the student speakers of the program after hearing such wise words from Dean Karolyi. The next person who's going to come up, it is my pleasure to introduce the first student speaker and recipient of the Spirit of Dyson Award, which is given to a graduating senior who has consistently displayed strong intellectual development, thoughtful leadership, and service to peers, the school, or the University.
A global problem solving perspective and commitment, very consistent with what Dean Karolyi was just talking about with responsible leadership, and the highest standards of accountability and integrity. Please join me in welcoming the amazingly awesome Anna Haraka.
ANNA HARAKA: Hi, everyone. My name is Anna Haraka, and I am one of Dyson's 270 graduating seniors. Before addressing my classmates, I'd like to acknowledge my family here today. My mom, dad, sister Emily, Aunt Sue and grandparents, Meemaw and Peepaw. I'm honored to have the opportunity to publicly thank them for everything they've sacrificed for me to be here graduating from Cornell University.
[APPLAUSE]
Meemaw, I hope you're taking lots of pictures because this is Facebook gold right here. To all of the family and friends here today, we are so deeply grateful for your support in these bittersweet moments as we graduate from such an amazing four years at the Dyson School. And to all of the people I bribed to nominate me to give this speech, your checks are in the mail. Except Dyson never taught me how to write a check nor address an envelope, so good luck with that.
During our first few weeks in Dyson, we were faced with many challenging questions. Will I be able to keep up? Am I going to make friends? And what the hell is Professor Perez talking about? Sorry.
[LAUGHTER]
But the most daunting question of them all was one that seemed like it should be a layup, a question asked in every coffee chat, club interview, and mancom evaluation. Brace yourselves as I ask, can you take a moment to tell me about yourself?
Friends and family, this may seem like a simple question, but it's a loaded one for us, all hoping to strike a balance between intellectual and personable. It challenges us to marry our passions and values with skills in financial modeling and slide building. This question of tell me about yourself has left thousands of Dyson students staring in the mirror wondering, who even am I?
So let's conquer this question together once and for all as I tell you about ourselves and what it means to have the spirit of Dyson. The spirit of Dyson is thinking of the bigger picture. The masterminds behind some of our most beloved annual events, like Better Business Week and the Dyson Gala, are perfect examples of this.
Students like Amber Lao and Christian Schneider share in their passions for creating programs that will be large scale Dyson traditions for years to come. The spirit of Dyson is making a worldwide impact, whether it be [INAUDIBLE] and Sierra Kinsler researching health care solutions in Ghana, Joshua Figueroa and Jared Brown supporting businesses in South Africa, or Sam Strauss forging connections at Oxford and Cambridge, Dyson students travel far and wide to make a difference.
The spirit of Dyson is caring not only about people, but the planet. Through their research, fieldwork, and advocacy efforts, students like Adrian D'Souza and Miranda Price are ensuring that future generations have the opportunity to make a difference in a sustainable way.
The spirit of Dyson is building a culture of inclusion. Founders of A Seat At The Table, Cornell's premier business ethics organization, as well as some of the most exceptional course assistants, Kellie Graves and Matt Sovik are profound examples of this, advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion and creating a sense of belonging for hundreds of Dyson students.
The spirit of Dyson is being reliable and trustworthy. This not only means that we will be the analysts in the workplace that will undoubtedly get the job done but the people who show up for you when you need them the most. I'm grateful to have found trusted friends in Dyson like Hannah Murray, Austin Belcher, and Thatcher Hollis, who truly embody this thoughtfulness.
Finally, the spirit of Dyson is pushing those around you to be their best selves. Alexa Friedman and Talia Singer are two incredible young women who can always be found in Warren Hall mentoring underclassmen, whether it be editing their resumes or telling them that it's not the end of the world if they don't get their dream internship. No two people inspire me more than Alexa and Talia. Please pack me in your briefcases when you start your careers in investment banking this summer.
You may be wondering, why are none of these students that I mentioned giving this speech here today? Well, actually, there was a tie between all of us, so they gave it to the person spotted crying in Terry's office hours the most times.
[LAUGHTER]
All jokes aside, the crazy thing is that these were just some examples of 270 students who have accomplished incredible things in Dyson. However, we weren't just born like this. We were raised and nurtured to be this way, not only by our families here today, but by Dyson faculty and staff that remind us every day what it means to exemplify the spirit of Dyson.
We all probably know Andrea Pogue, Director of Student Services and Advising. Andrea's day to day responsibilities include meeting with students, planning events, and making sure we were all able to graduate here today. But she has a more important responsibility, being an amazing mother to Harper, an adorable fourth grader with quite the talent for drawing, gymnastics, and driving Andrea crazy. Hanging on the wall of Andrea's office is a sign that reads "each student is someone's Harper."
Not only does this highlight Andrea's ability to nurture each and every student as her own, but it demonstrates a greater trend about the Dyson community as a whole. This very ability to treat every person we encounter in business and otherwise as someone's Harper is the essence of Dyson. It's how each and every one of us will continue to make our business a better world. It's the Dyson difference, and it's how I hope you all tell others about yourselves for years to come. Once again, thank you to all our families and friends for supporting us, and congratulations, Dyson class of 2024.
[APPLAUSE]
SUZANNE SHU: I told you she was awesome. Thank you, Anna. That was great. Our next student speaker that I'm going to call up in a minute is Daniel Maggio. So Daniel is a doctor of philosophy PhD candidate and was selected by the AEM graduate field for his research excellence and detailed work in the field of management and a character that fully embodies perseverance and respect for his peers. A high honor from our PhD graduates this year. So please join me in welcoming Daniel Maggio to the stage.
[APPLAUSE]
DANIEL MAGGIO: Thank you, Dean Shu. Dear class of 2024, parents, faculty, and staff. Thank you for having me today and for the honor of representing my peers who will confer their doctorates today. To those completing a degree, whether it be your bachelors, your masters, or your PhD, allow me to say congratulations.
At this point, I hope you've already had the chance to celebrate alongside defending your dissertation or your thesis or completing your last final. But remember to take the time to enjoy this moment. You're a Dyson graduate, and you've accomplished something here today. For the bachelor's and the masters students, this will likely be your last graduation. And for my peers, it almost certainly will be. At least I hope, for your sake.
But to the parents and families in attendance, we all know today is about you. So congratulations to you as well. Very few people in this room would be here without the support that you've provided, and you should be proud of what you and your children or you and your spouses have accomplished together.
And to the graduates, I'm sure you already know this, but your parents are going to annoy you today. But you should let them, because they've put more into this degree than you have. Plus, yesterday at this time, I was in London, and now I'm standing here fighting jet lag so my parents can watch me give this speech. So I've done my part and it's time for you to do yours.
But on to the PHD, because that's what they want me to talk about. I've watched a few of these things and people often talk about late nights in Olin libraries, their qualifying exams, or the support they've gotten from their peers. But if I did that today, it would be disingenuous. In truth, I've never been in Olin Library, and I'm not even really sure where that is. I didn't take a qualifying exam, and none of the people I entered the program with today are graduating here. In truth, I spent four months on this campus before it was shut down by a global pandemic, and I've seldom been back since.
So today you're going to hear a lot about the academic rigor of Cornell and the accomplishments of the legions of graduates that you'll join today. All of those things are true, and I'm tremendously grateful for the opportunities that Cornell has granted each one of us. But that's simply not my experience.
To me, Cornell is a symbol, and it is a symbol that academic excellence and professionalism need not exclude someone from compassion and humanity. To say that my path has been unconventional would be an understatement. Portions of my dissertation were written on five continents and on flights operated by seven different airlines, all the while trying to be there for a mother who was fighting and thankfully beating both cancer and multiple sclerosis and being an all too absent partner.
[APPLAUSE]
And being an all too absent partner to my now wife, Elizabeth. Now, that's a task that simply would not have been possible without the support of the Dyson faculty. So often you'll hear horror stories about academic advisors, and I'm proud to stand before you today and tell you that that could not be further from my experience.
And while my gratitude is too long to list exhaustively here, John Hoddinott, a man who can't be with us today, is a world class academic. But more importantly, he showed me a compassion and flexibility that not only kept me afloat, but changed the way in which I strive to treat others.
And then there's Chris Barrett, who's on the stage here today, a man whose list of accomplishments would take the rest of this ceremony to read. But more importantly, in a field that is supposed to be about people shows a genuine care for others that is all too rare.
And so that's what I've found here at Dyson, an institution that does not treat excellence and humanity as substitutes, and an institution where any person can find instruction in any study, you've chosen Dyson and found instruction from those who I hope have inspired you. Because at its heart, economics is the study of how people get what they need. And in that way, I hope you take what you've learned in these halls and in Olin Library and never stop pushing for a better world, one without need.
So I'll pass it back to Dean Shu, but let me just take one final chance to say congratulations. You've worked so hard to get here, and while the work isn't finished, you should take this time to celebrate. People will tell you to act like you've been here before, but the truth is you haven't. So my advice is to act like you'll never get here again, because you might not. Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
SUZANNE SHU: OK. How are you doing? It's a great ceremony, right? OK, we have more talk to come and then soon the reading of names. But our fourth speaker and one I'm very excited to introduce to you is the Dean of-- the David J. Nolan Dean of the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and that's Dean Jinhua Zhao. Dean Zhao is also a professor of Applied Economics and Policy in the school.
And he comes to us, and I've lost track of my notes, he comes to us as an expert in environmental and resource economics. He's been part of the EPA's Senior Advisory Board, as well as the Air, Climate, and Energy Commission of the EPA Board of Scientific Contributors. He's been a co-editor of The Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and served on the editorial boards of many other top journals in the environmental economics field.
He routinely conducts research in this broad area of environmental and resource economics with special interest in global climate change, environmental regulation, technology adoption, and dynamic decision making under uncertainty. His research projects have been funded by the US NSF, the US Department of Agriculture, the EPA and NASA. And he's to all of us a tremendous inspiration in how to bring this sort of deeply responsible leadership into our school and think about solving these global grand challenges that we face. So it's a tremendous honor to introduce Dean Zhao to you.
[APPLAUSE]
JINHUA ZHAO: Thank you. Thank you, Dean Shu. So members of the class of 2024, families and friends, I'm honored to welcome you to the graduation recognition ceremony of the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. I'm so proud to celebrate your accomplishments with you, your family, and the broad Dyson community.
So today we have, I was counting, 15 PhD graduates, 42 students receiving the Master of Science degree, 95 students completing the Master of Professional Studies degree, including 24 who will also receive the Master of International Management degree from the CEMS Alliance. And, this is very precise, 256 undergraduates receiving the Bachelor of Science degree.
[APPLAUSE]
Many of you are also earning dual majors, minors, and other distinctions this weekend. So congratulations to each and every one of you for reaching this significant milestone. So today is a day for gratitude. To the parents, family, friends who helped you along the way. So let's show your appreciation with round of applause to your family and friends.
[APPLAUSE]
Gratitudes to the faculty, mentors, advisors, staff who guided your education and made it possible.
[APPLAUSE]
For some, it's a day tinged with a bit of sadness as you say goodbye to your roommates and friends. And for some, it's a relief that you're here at all, that you made it.
But don't feel bad if you struggled a bit during your Dyson journey. It's a top business school with a very tough curriculum, and our professors tend to push the envelope a bit far in challenging our students. So it's OK to have struggled. And in fact, I struggled as I was trying to imagine what I would say to you today.
So let's face it, it has not been an easy year. When we look to the world around us, we recognize that all is not well. Many people around the globe are suffering from hunger, from conflicts, and from threats of conflicts. We wonder if perhaps the clash of great ideas cannot be solved by negotiations alone, that the rifts in our American society and between nations are so great that they cannot be healed. Even our beautiful campus on the hill that draws students and faculty from all over the world has not been immune from the fractures of 2024.
So what can I say to you at this moment? Well, I want to offer you great hope for a bright future, and I firmly believe such hope is justified. I cannot say you are going out to a universally peaceful and thriving world. Well, I want to reassure you that those who trod those paths before you, we have many distinguished alumni here, have worked out a better future and sure steps for you to follow.
I cannot promise you that our steps would work for you. And in fact, you might have to work some extra time to correct what we got wrong. While I want to inspire you to dream the biggest dreams possible, I also have to mention that big dreams often come with big costs, and you have to balance your risks in a risky world. So what can I say to you at this moment?
So at this point, still struggling with my speech and a bit lost for words, I decided to do what most of you would have done in a similar situation. I turned to ChatGPT.
[LAUGHTER]
Or more precisely, Microsoft Copilot beta version, available free of charge on my desktop. So I told my Copilot that I was a Dean at a top business school with an Ivy League University, that I had to give a speech at graduation, that it has been a difficult year for the campus, but I wanted to offer my sincere congratulations, along with some hopes for the future. This was a pretty good prompt, isn't it?
So in seconds, generative AI spit out five paragraphs of rhetoric, a comprehensive speech that any Dean could read. And the first time I read it, I was impressed. It had all of the notes of empathy and inspiration. And the second time I read it, I still believed it was OK. But on the third read, hmm, on the third rate, I realized somewhat sadly that it was entirely generic and cliched and said nothing specific for this moment, for this celebration, and for this wonderful group of graduating students.
While MS Copilot correctly pegged the class of 2024 as a COVID generation who learned to adapt in your first year to remote learning and regular swabbing, it did not know the extent that some of you created online communities to support each other as you struggled with eating, sleeping, and attending virtual classes in a small north campus room.
It did not know the many hours you spent listening to your roommate complain about Dyson's cap on A+ grades. It did not know the many hours you spent listening to your roommate not only complaining about this, but also complaining about all of the average grade caps. And it did not know the time that you lifted him up when he truly didn't think he could go to class.
It had not calculated the hours you spent as sports teammates, club leaders, and course assistants. It did not know Reed in the student services or Tracy in the dean's office or Sarah in the classroom, the individuals who are tough but kind and who care about your development. But most importantly, it did not know the Dyson School as a community that we have all contributed to building, a community that is the source and foundation of my optimism for your future. The community, the Dyson community. That's what I want to tell you and talk about today.
We often talk about the Dyson community as being close knit, not because we are a small community. In fact, with over 10,000 alumni and growing, this is a rather sizeable community. We are a close knit and supportive community because we are united by a shared values, the Dyson spirit, the value of learning and education and excellence, the value of fair and friendly competition, the value of shared responsibility and effective collaboration, the value of treating people and the natural world with respect.
Being part of this community does not imply that we all agree on everything. In fact, what makes the Dyson community strong is our desire and ability to engage in meaningful and respectful dialogues when we disagree, to not simply listen to what we'd like to hear, but actively seek what we need to hear and to find ways to support each other, notwithstanding the divergence in our world views.
Each one of you has come to this point with unique experiences, backgrounds, and viewpoints. The power of the Dyson community is to channel this inevitable but valuable differences, to enrich our understanding, to spark innovation and to collectively advance. This is why we put you through group projects during your first semester here at Dyson, and to put you in diverse teams to work on grand challenges cases in your senior year, and charged you to work through your differences for a common solution.
Over 2,000 years ago, an ancient Chinese book Shang Shu, Book of Documents stated with tolerance, our virtue grows. In the Dyson community, we engage in differences and conflicts not only with tolerance, but with open arms, with curiosity, and with the desire to learn. This is why the Dyson community is close knit, supportive, and strong. This is why the Dyson community is more than a network but a foundation for success. And this is why I'm optimistic about your future.
The increasingly polarized world needs leaders who can collaborate across differences, engage in respectful dialogue, and build supportive communities. The world not only needs your problem solving bent and your ability to adapt to the next big pan whatever, but also demands the community building skills that you have cultivated here at Cornell and will continue to nurture after you graduate.
As you leave here today, carry forward the Dyson tradition of collaborative competition and respectful dialogue. Rest assured in your abilities to rise above differences and now that you are a part and have the unwavering support of the close knit Dyson community. Congratulations and good luck, class of 2024.
[APPLAUSE]
SUZANNE SHU: Thank you so much, Dean Zhao. So at this time, I would like to direct you to your programs, where you will find a list of graduate and undergraduate students who were honored earlier this semester at our annual Dyson Awards and Recognition Ceremony. If those students, and hopefully you all remember who you are from the April ceremony, could please stand, we would like to celebrate you further. And I know there's a bunch of you out there. Come on, you guys. Stand up if you were honored at that ceremony. Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
These are students who won various types of awards and amazing distinctions for the fantastic work they've done. We also want to recognize a set of students who have been selected by their peers for special roles in the big ceremony tomorrow morning in Schoellkopf Stadium at the University wide commencement. And I hope you're all going to be there. It's an amazing experience.
The students who were selected for these roles were among the top 10% in academic performance in their graduating class, and they were selected for their classroom contributions and service to the Dyson School. As I call your name, please stand. So there are two degree marshals, Lauren [INAUDIBLE] and Akira Goh.
[APPLAUSE]
Congratulations, both of you. There will be two college named banner bearers, Sam Strauss and Talia Singer.
[APPLAUSE]
And the college symbol banner bearer will be Josh Figueroa.
[APPLAUSE]
And I don't think it's an accident that a lot of those names showed up in Anna's speech earlier. So congratulations again to each of you and to all of our award honorees this year.
[APPLAUSE]
So our next step is to move on to the reading of names. This happens in several parts, and it's an amazing experience, and we try to be very well coordinated as we do it. The first group that's going to have their names read is actually going to be done by me, and then others will be coming up to take over in just a moment.
So I'm going to take the chance to read the names of our PhD students. So these are the students who are earning their doctor of philosophy. They will be hooded as they come up on stage. I will read out their name and the title of their dissertation, and I'll try to not mess it up too much, I hope. And each graduate will have their hood placed on them by either their faculty advisor or a representative of their faculty advisor, probably a member of their committee. So we'll go ahead and get started.
Our first graduate is Anna Malinovskaya, who wrote some essays in public economics, and her advisor is Seth Sanders from the Department of Economics. Seth, come on up and go ahead and hood Anna. Congratulations, Anna.
[APPLAUSE]
Our next PhD graduate is Vidya Bharathi Rajkumar, who wrote "Essays on the effects of migration and remittances on households in rural India." Her advisor is Prabhu Pingali, who's going to come up and do the hooding.
[APPLAUSE]
Our next PhD graduate is Natasha Jha. Her dissertation was "On unintended consequences of public policy, essays in development economics." And again, Prabhu Pingali is the faculty advisor who will be doing her hooding.
[APPLAUSE]
Next up is Vanisha Sharma, whose dissertation was "On digitization of rural India and the agricultural sector," again advised by Prabhu Pingali, who will be doing her hooding.
[APPLAUSE]
Our next PhD graduate is Tarana Chauhan, whose dissertation was on "Financial inclusion, climate vulnerability, and political economy, insights from India and Sub-Saharan Africa." She's just been hooded by her advisor, Chris Barrett.
[APPLAUSE]
Next up is Seungmin Lee. His dissertation was on "Essays and food security in the US." And again, his advisor is Professor Chris Barrett.
[APPLAUSE]
Next up is Trinh [INAUDIBLE]. Her dissertation was "Essays in development and environmental economics." Again, hooded by advisor Chris Barrett.
[APPLAUSE]
Next is [INAUDIBLE]. His dissertation was "Essays on the intergenerational transmission of human capital." He worked with multiple faculty, but he's being hooded by Professor Chris Barrett.
[APPLAUSE]
And welcome back to the stage our earlier speaker, Daniel William Maggio. His dissertation was on "Essays on the design of social protection and its effects on maternal and child health." As he mentioned during his speech, he worked with Professor John Hoddinott and his being hooded today by Professor Chris Barrett.
[APPLAUSE]
Our next graduate is Dana [INAUDIBLE] Smith. Her dissertation was on "Essays on the economic impact of immigration in North America." And she's being hooded today by Professor Brian Dillon.
[APPLAUSE]
Our next graduate is [INAUDIBLE], being hooded today by two advisors, [INAUDIBLE] and Nathan Yang. His dissertation was on "Essays on AI, digitization, and innovation. Congratulations.
[APPLAUSE]
Our next graduate is [INAUDIBLE]. Her dissertation was on "Raising grievances to the state, the political economic effects of anti-corruption crackdowns on labor activism in China." Hooded by Professor Nicholas Batten.
[APPLAUSE]
Next is Binglin Wang. His dissertation was on "Essays on sustainable transportation," being hooded by advisor Shanjun Li.
[APPLAUSE]
Next up is a student, Mengwei Lin. Mengwei, good to see you. Her dissertation is on "Essays on political economy and public policy." She's being hooded by Professor Shanjun Li.
[APPLAUSE]
Our next graduate is Yiding Ma. Her dissertation was on "Evaluating policy impacts on clean energy and transportation." Being hooded by her advisor, David Ng.
[APPLAUSE]
And last but not least, our last graduate is Sergio Puerto. His dissertation was on "Essays on agricultural technology choice in developing countries." Being hooded by his advisor, Miguel Gomez.
[APPLAUSE]
And hopefully you heard from those dissertation titles how around the world our students have gone as PhD students and all of the amazing work that they have done working on these important topics. So congratulations to our PhD students. I'm now going to hand things off to the next part of our program, which is the reading of the MS degree names by Professor Calum Turvey.
CALUM TURVEY: Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Calum Turvey. I'm the Director of Graduate Studies for the Master of Science program, and I'm here to read the names of the candidates for the Masters of Science.
[APPLAUSE]
[READING NAMES]
Ladies and gentlemen, congratulate the Masters of Science graduates of 2024.
[APPLAUSE]
STEPHEN SHU: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Stephen Shu, Professor of Practice and CEMS Program Director. And I have the honor of reading the names for the super, stupendous, spectacular candidates of Master of Professional Studies.
[APPLAUSE]
[READING NAMES]
I present the candidates for the Master of Professional Studies 2024. Congratulations
[APPLAUSE]
DAVID LENNOX: I'm David Lennox, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and I'll be joined by Professor Stapp and Professor Wolfods as we read the names of the candidates for Bachelor of Science. As they're coming up, I'd also like to remind you to try to keep the aisles clear on either side. We have a lot of traffic moving through. And for safety reasons and to keep things moving, we need to keep those aisles clear.
[READING NAMES]
SARAH WOLFOLDS: Please join me in congratulating the Bachelor of Science recipients of 2024.
[APPLAUSE]
SUZANNE SHU: Wow. This whole event always gives me goosebumps. Such a huge congratulation to all of our graduates. You guys have survived difficult classes. You've written grand challenges projects. You've written theses, dissertations. You've gone through so much, and we are so unbelievably proud of you, and as are many of the other people here in the room. Please be proud of yourself. Come back, visit us often, and keep in touch to let us know how you're doing.
We have a few more things to do before we finish up, so we're almost there. We're wrapping up. Stay in your seats for just a moment longer. First, we want to give some thanks. Please first of all, graduates, look for friends, family, whoever is here to support you today and give them a huge round of thanks for being here and supporting you for the last few years.
[APPLAUSE]
I know some of your friends and family have traveled a tremendous distance to be here, and we are so appreciative to have you here as part of this weekend. We also want to give a special thanks to our staff, who are giving up time on a holiday weekend to be here to make all of this work smoothly, especially Andrea Pogue, who will for now be known as mother of Harper because of Anna's speech. But we are so thankful for our staff who help keep making this work well and make the rest of us look good. So thank you.
Graduates, families, we're going to progress out in a minute, recess from this room. There'll be music and things like that. We'll all go out into the hallway. But if you want to step back in here and get pictures with the Dyson banners and so forth, you are welcome to do that after we leave the room. So just wait until all the graduates are out and then you can come back in for pictures.
So the last step that we have to do before we wrap up today is the singing of the alma mater. We've asked two of our seniors this year, [INAUDIBLE] and Miranda Price, who are standing here over here on the side, to lead us-- come on up, you guys-- for the singing of the alma mater. We're very happy to have them. You will find the words to the alma mater on the back page of your program so that you can please sing along.
Please stand if you are able to during the singing of the alma mater. And then following the singing of the alma mater, we ask that you remain in your seat while the faculty and the graduates recess from the room. So thank you again. Once again, a huge congratulations to our graduates. Thank you for being here, and hooray for class of 2024.
[APPLAUSE]
(SINGING) Far above Cayuga's waters
With its waves of blue
Stands our noble alma mater
Glorious to view
Lift the chorus, speed it onward
Loud her praises tell
Hail to thee, our alma mater
Hail, all hail Cornell
Far above the busy humming
Of the bustling town
Reared against the arch of heaven
Looks she proudly down
Lift the chorus, speed it onward
Loud her praises tell
Hail to thee our alma mater
Hail, all hail Cornell
[APPLAUSE]
(SINGING) Strike the song to Cornell
And let the swelling chorus rise before us
Strike up a song to Cornell
And set the campus ringing with our singing
Fill the glasses with a song
And drink the magic music spell
We will sound the joy of life intense
In a rousing toast to Cornell
Strike up a song to Cornell
And let the swelling chorus rise before us
Strike up a song to Cornell
And set the campus ringing with our singing
Fill the glasses with a song
And drink the magic music spell
We will sound a joy of life intense
In a rousing toast to Cornell
Strike up a song to Cornell
Come let us strike up a song to Cornell
Strike up a song to Cornell
[APPLAUSE]
(SINGING) From rocky height
We come to fight
For the name Cornell has made
And we will cheer
Without a fear
That her good name will never fade
Fight to the end
Don't break or bend
Until our team has won the game
And fight for might, for right, for Cornell's name
For the glory that brings us fame
Make all advances strong and sure today
Take all the chances fate throws in the way
Fight for the glory that is earned so well
Victory makes history, so fight for Cornell
Make all advances strong and sure today
Take all the chances fate throws in the way
Fight for the glory that is earned so well
Victory makes history, so fight for Cornell
Give my regards to Davy
Remember me to Tee Fee Crane
Tell all the pikers on the hill that I'll be back again
Tell them just how I busted
Lapping up the high highball
We'll all have drinks at Theodore Zinck's
When I get back next fall
Give my regards to Davy
Remember me to Tee Fee Crane
Tell all the pikers on the hill that I'll be back again
Tell them just how I busted
Lapping up the high highball
We'll all have drinks at Theodore Zinck's
When I get back next fall
Cornell champions are winning the game
Cornell champions are spreading her fame
One more victory in her history
Let's show our team we know it will be victory again
Give a yell, Cornell
Let's cheer for Carnelian and White
The score is growing
