By JUDY RATTNER
The graduating class - one of the largest ever - included more than 200 graduate students. College president Dr. Drew Bogner said the class size reflected the fact that Molloy has grown and become more diversified in terms of students and programs. The college awarded honorary degrees to Rockville Centre native Dean Kamen, the commencement speaker, and Dr. Barbara Ellen Black, who graduated in its second class.
In his introductory address, Bogner urged his students to "commit to a calling, to commit to more than a job, a career. That calling is the idea that you're more than the job you do... a calling to help build institutions that help other people. You are called to make a difference," he said.
Keynote speaker Dean Kamen echoed Bogner's theme. "I am here on a recruiting mission," he told the graduates, "to get you to make a difference in the world."
Kamen, who describes himself as a physicist, mathematician and engineer, is also an inventor and entrepreneur. He is a tireless advocate for science and technology, the founder of DEKA Research and Development Corporation, where he develops internally-generated inventions and provides research and development for major corporate clients. Kamen holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents for innovative devices that have expanded the frontiers of health care worldwide. Some of his notable inventions include the first wearable drug infusion pump, the first portable insulin pump and kidney dialysis machine, a wheelchair that climbs stairs, rough terrain and balances at eye level, and the Segway Human Transporter. Kamen also champions FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) an organization he started 15 years ago, now in over 10,000 schools, that helps young people discover the fun in science and technology as they form teams to participate in sports-style competitions.
During his address, Kamen described a compact, portable water purifying device, that he says is making a huge difference in helping to eradicate the number one cause of human disease, bad water, in initial tests in developing parts of the world.
"Universities are the only hope the world has left," Kamen told the crowd at Molloy, "the news is crummy and it doesn't stop. What's the answer? The only one is education. The world is in a race between education and catastrophe. Lately catastrophe seems to be winning. We can't let that happen.
"The educated people will use [their education] as a tool, to make the world a happy, sustainable place for all the people who share it," Kamen said. "The power of education and technology can help get everyone in the game."
Molloy bestowed Kamen its Doctor of Science degree, presented to individuals who have made distinguished contributions and performed services in the sciences.
The college also honored Dr. Barbara Ellen Black with its Doctor of Laws degree, for individuals distinguished in general service to the state, to learning and to mankind. Dr. Black has spent much of her career in academia, and was the first female vice president at Molloy. She has also worked in the business, finance and administrative areas at Fordham University, Hunter College, Dowling College, Georgian Court University. Dr. Black is currently the executive director of the Lower Hudson Valley Catholic College and University Consortium that develops programs promoting student leadership, and collective volume fiscal efficiencies for the colleges.
