UMass Amherst Class of 2013 Celebrates Graduation, Hears Advice from Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO at American Express

AMHERST, Mass. – Under partly sunny skies, 5,500 students received bachelor’s degrees during today’s Undergraduate Commencement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A crowd of 20,000 heard commencement speaker and American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault advise, that in a world permanently disrupted, graduates may not “find” a job but that “21^st century technology makes inventing a job much cheaper and easier.”

Chenault, who also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the ceremony, told the graduates, “When you take a risk, expect others to question you, and they should. Your employer. Your colleagues. Your friends. Your mom or dad. You’re going to be faced with choices that only you can make. Make them with what might be called ‘informed self-confidence’—that’s the hallmark of the entrepreneur.”

Chenault joined American Express in 1981 and became president and chief operating officer in 1997. He assumed his current responsibilities as CEO in 2001 and later that year became chairman.

UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy presided at the Commencement ceremony held at Warren P. McGuirk Alumni Stadium, and UMass President Robert L. Caret conferred the degrees.

In his address, Subbaswamy said, “This is a special commencement for UMass Amherst because you are the graduating class of our sesquicentennial year. Behind you is the power of 15 decades of study, research, advocacy for higher education, innovation on behalf of the common good, and sheer collective effort!”

He told the graduates, “UMass Amherst stands for the hopes, the ambitions, the bold experiments and innovative solutions of the people of the Commonwealth and the world beyond. Our alumni constitute a global network of extraordinary influence. Everything that you go forth to do shines back on us. So, as I send you on your way, I have to invite you back. Please come back to see us. We want you to visit often. The Old Chapel will be waiting for you. And we want your children to come here! On their Commencement day, you can sit in the stands and beam with pride for them, as your families are doing for you, right at this moment.”

During the Commencement ceremony, alumnus Charles F. Perrell, investor and principal, Perrell Ventures, received a Distinguished Achievement Award. The award recognizes high accomplishment in a given field or profession and notable contributions to society.

Perrell earned both his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and an MBA from UMass Amherst. He is a retired technology executive who in 1992 co-founded Network Appliance Inc., a data management and storage provider. Previously, he launched international sales at MIPS Computers and Sun Microsystems. Perrell worked in managerial positions for Digital Equipment Corp. and before that worked at Texas Instruments. In 2000, Perrell was named Alumnus of the Year by the UMass Amherst College of Engineering, and the civil and environmental engineering department’s Perrell Computing Laboratory is named in his honor.

The student speaker was graduating senior Adam E. Schultz of Sudbury, Mass., a hospitality and tourism major. An avid hockey fan, Schultz attended every home hockey game during his four years on campus along with many away games. He was the team’s “Flag Guy” for the 2012-13 season. Following graduation, Schultz plans to explore other parts of the country and pursue a career in restaurant management.

Eleven graduates, 10 from Commonwealth Honors College, were honored as 21st Century Leaders for far-ranging achievement, initiative and social awareness. They are: Civil Engineering major Zachary Robert Bemis of Southborough; microbiology and biochemistry and molecular biology major Michael J. Boucher of Southampton; management and public health major Caroline Conena of East Sandwich; Tracy Gebhart, of Sioux Falls, S.D., a women, gender, sexuality studies major who completed a second major through the Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration program; anthropology major Sarah C. Kelley, of Woburn; chemistry major Kate Liedell of Westborough; civil and environmental engineering major Timothy Light of Pelham; kinesiology major Kristen Richard of Leominster; biochemistry and molecular biology and neuroscience major Ankur Sheel of Amherst; chemistry and biochemistry and molecular biology major Michael Veling of Lincoln; and resource economics major Thandolwethu Zono of South Africa.

Four graduating seniors were recognized for their leadership and executive ability as Jack Welch Scholars. They are: accounting and history major Brandon Matthew Auger of Shrewsbury; civil engineering major Philip Edward MacClellan of Franklin; finance major Kathleen E. Murphy of North Andover, and chemical engineering major Nicolas James Frederick Skarzynski of Montague.

Contact:  Ed Blaguszewski, 413/695-4522; edblag@admin.umass.edu