Drexel University will celebrate its 126th commencement at the University City campus from June 14, 2013 through June 15, 2013. During this series of special days, the University and
College of Engineering community will gather with our graduates and their family and friends to celebrate academic achievement and the enhanced opportunities afforded by a world-class education. On Friday, June 14, 2013, Drexel Engineering’s graduates will be honored at 9:30 a.m. in the John A. Daskalakis Athletic Center during a ceremony that will include the recognition of honorary degrees to prominent individuals distinguished in their fields. The chosen recipients included are:
Bernard Amadei: A professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, he has been appointed by the U.S. Department of State as one of three science envoys who will help strengthen U.S. ties with other countries to address global challenges.
He founded the nonprofit organization Engineers Without Borders-USA, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with more than 12,000 students, faculty and professional members across the country. In founding the organization, Amadei pioneered a new approach to engineering education by involving students in service learning projects in the developing world, an initiative that is helping to create globally responsible engineers and to provide sustainable and appropriate technology solutions to the endemic problems faced by developing communities worldwide.
Amadei holds the Mortenson Endowed Chair in Global Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder and served as faculty director of the Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities from 2009-2012. Amadei has been on the CU-Boulder faculty in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering for 30 years, with a specialty in rock mechanics and engineering geology. Amadei was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2008 and has received numerous other prestigious awards, including the Heinz Award for the Environment, the Hoover Medal, the Ralph Coats Roe Medal and the Norm Augustine Award.
G. Wayne Clough: As the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Clough has taken the Smithsonian, the world’s largest museum and research complex with activities in nearly 100 countries, in new directions creating a new framework for goals, enterprises and operations. He is responsible for an annual budget of $1 billion, 6,400 employees and 6,200 volunteers.
Clough is currently overseeing a building and renovation program of more than $1 billion. Major elements include the renovation of the Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall, scheduled to re-open in 2014, and the construction of the National Museum of African American History and Culture located near the Washington Monument, scheduled to open in late 2015. Since coming to the Smithsonian, the Secretary has emphasized the development of collaborations with universities and other organizations. Before his appointment to the Smithsonian, Clough was president of the Georgia Institute of Technology for 14 years.
Clough’s recognitions include 2012 National Honor Member status in Chi Epsilon, the National Civil Engineering Honor Society, the 2011 Foreign Policy Association Medal, the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation Award in 2011, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010 and induction into the Technology Hall of Fame of Georgia. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1990, he was recognized with the 2008 NAE Bueche Award for his efforts in public policy. Clough has received nine national awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Paul Citron: Until 2003, he was vice president of Technology Policy and Academic Relations at Medtronic, Inc., a pioneer in the medical device industry and the largest developer of implantable therapeutic devices. Previously he was Medtronic’s vice president of Science and Technology responsible for corporate-wide assessment and coordination of technology initiatives and for prioritization and funding of corporate research. Over his 32-year career at Medtronic before he retired in 2003, Citron developed and helped bring to the bedside technologies that advanced the utility, safety and effectiveness of innovative implanted medical devices.
He is currently adjunct professor at the Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San Diego, and is an advisor to start-up firms in the medical device and biotechnology sector. He has authored numerous medical technology peer reviewed publications. Citron holds nine U.S. medical device patents, including one that was designated “Patent of Distinction” by Medtronic for its positive impact on patient wellbeing. It permitted, for the first time, reliable long-term cardiac stimulation without the need for an open-chest surgical procedure. He currently serves as a National Academy of Engineering Councillor and is a member of the National Academies’ Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy.
For more information on the 2013 Commencement, please click
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