Niagara University Commencement Honorees and Guest Speakers
2011 - Graduate Exercises
Urban Theorist and Author, Doctor of Humane Letters
Astronaut and Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars (Washington, D.C.), Doctor of Laws
President, Sanderson & Company Investment Consultants LLC, Doctor of Commercial Science
2011 - Undergraduate Exercises
Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist, Doctor of Humane Letters
2008 Winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Professor, Columbia University, Doctor of Science
Retired Executive Vice President/Chief Administrative Officer, First Niagara Financial Group and First Niagara Bank, Doctor of Commercial Science
2010 - Graduate Exercises
Former Anchor (and his wife), ABC World News Tonight, Doctor of Humane Letters
Retired National Chief, First Nations Assembly of Canada, Doctor of Laws
Retired President, Continental Securities Corp., Doctor of Commercial Science
2010 - Undergraduate Exercises
CNN anchor, Doctor of Humane Letters
Retired Head Coach and General Manager, National Football League, Doctor of Humane Letters
Bishop of the Diocese of Hamilton (Ont.), Doctor of Humane Letters
Author, Doctor of Humane Letters
2009 - Graduate Exercises
Anchor, Canadian Broadcasting Co.'s "The National," Doctor of Humane Letters
Retired Chief Executive Officer, Tim Hortons, Doctor of Humane Letters
President and Chief Executive Officer, State Bank of Long Island and State Bancorp Inc., Doctor of Commercial Science
Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn, N.Y., Doctor of Sacred Theology
2009 - Undergraduate Exercises
Chairman of the Special Olympics Inc., Doctor of Humane Letters
Retired Head Coach, Senior Advisor, National Hockey League, Doctor of Pedagogy
President and Chief Executive Officer, Vila d'Este (Como, Italy), Doctor of Commercial Science
President, Nardin Academy, Doctor of Humane Letters
2008 - Graduate Exercises
Founding director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Institute at Stanford University, Doctor of Humane Letters
Archbishop of Toronto, Doctor of Humane Letters
2008 - Undergraduate Exercises
President, The Catholic University of America, Doctor of Laws
- D’Youville College, Sister Denise Roche, GNSH, Ph.D., president
- St. Bonaventure University, Sister Margaret Carney, OSF, S.T.D., president (Sesquicentennial Anniversary)
- Christ the King Seminary, The Rev. W. Siepka, M.A., S.T.L., president/rector (Sesquicentennial Anniversary)
2007 - Graduate Exercises
President, DePaul University, Doctor of Pedagogy
President, Chief Executive Officer, National Property Management Associates Inc., Doctor of Commercial Science
Art Collector, Doctor of Fine Arts
- Jeanne C. Finn, ‘71
- Lawrence Jacobs, M.D.,’61 (posthumous)
- John B. Stranges, Ph.D., ’59,
- Niagara University professor and former academic vice president
2007 - Undergraduate Exercises
President, Niagara University
President and Chief Executive Officer, Catholic Health Association, Doctor of Laws
- Concetta A. Dwyer, ‘65
- Barbara A. Malinowski, ‘59
- Cathy Falcone Ray, ‘76
- Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott,’71
- James M. Schermerhorn, J.D., MPP, PA-C, ‘64
2006 - Graduate Exercises
Executive Director, War Child Canada, Doctor of Humane Letters
President, War Child Canada, Doctor of Humane Letters
Senior Vice President for Development and Public Affairs, University of Virginia, Doctor of Commercial Science
Musician, Doctor of Music
2006 - Undergraduate Exercises
Liberal Member of Parliament, Canadian House of Commons, Doctor of Humane Letters
Executive Director of the National Tekakwitha Conference, Great Fall, Mont., Doctor of Pedagogy
President, Chief Operating Officer, CoBank, Doctor of Commercial Science
2005 - Graduate Exercises
CBS News Chief White House Correspondent, Doctor of Humane Letters
Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., Doctor of Sacred Theology
Gibson, McAskill & Crosby LLP, Buffalo, N.Y., Doctor of Laws
Trustee Emeritus, President's Medal
2005 - Undergraduate Exercises
Olympic Gold Medalist, Doctor of Humane Letters
Lab fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M., Doctor of Science
Pastor, St. Joseph University Church, Buffalo, N.Y., Doctor of Fine Arts
New York City Police Officer, Caritas Medal (posthumous)
2004 - Graduate Exercises
Canadian Author, Educator and Media Consultant, Toronto, Ontario, Doctor of Humane Letters
Founder and President, National Center for Family
Literacy, Louisville, KY, Doctor of Pedagogy
President, Congressional Black Caucus, Washington,
DC, Doctor of Humane Letters
2004 - Undergraduate Exercises
Award-Winning Journalist, Co-host of “Living
it Up with Ali and Jack,” Spring Lake, NJ, Doctor of Laws
Financial Columnist and Author, North Salem,
NY, Doctor of Humane Letters
Founder, The New York Police
and Fire Widows’ and Children’s
Benefit Fund, President, Rusty Staub Foundation, New York, NY, Doctor of Humane
Letters
Provincial Vocation Director, Eastern
Province of the Congregation of the Mission, Princeton, NJ, Doctor
of Pedagogy
2003 - Graduate Exercises
United States
Ambassador to Canada, United States Embassy, Ottawa, Ontario, Doctor
of Pedagogy
President, Niagara College – Welland Campus, Welland, Ontario, Doctor
of Pedagogy
2003 - Undergraduate Exercises
Professor and Director
of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University, School of
Medicine, Baltimore, MD, Doctor of Humane Letters
Head Chaplain, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
of the City of New York, New York, NY, Doctor of Humane Letters
Associate Professor of Religious
Studies, Niagara University, NY, Medal of Honor
2002 - Graduate Exercises
Former Lieutenant
Governor of Ontario, Doctor of Humane Letters
Author and Illustrator of Children’s Book, Doctor of Humane
Letters
President and CEO, Gas Technology Institute, Doctor of Commercial
Science
Chancellor of New York, State Board
of Regents, Doctor of Laws
2002 - Undergraduate Exercises
President, National
Theatre, Workshop of the Handicapped, New York, NY, Doctor of
Humane Letters
President and CEO, Carlson Hospitality Worldwide,
Minneapolis, MN, Doctor of Commercial Science
Associate Professor of Philosophy, University
of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC, Doctor of Pedagogy
Assistant to the President for Alumni
Relations, Niagara University, NY, President’s Medal
2001 - Graduate Exercises
Professor of History and American
Culture, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, Doctor of Humane
Letters
Music Director, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra,
Buffalo, NY, Doctor of Fine Arts
Professor of Theology, St. John’s
University, Jamaica, NY, Doctor of Pedagogy
2001 - Undergraduate Exercises
Television Journalist and
Newspaper Columnist, CNBC and San Francisco Chronicle, Washington,
D.C., Doctor of Humane Letters
President, Major League Baseball, New York, NY, Doctor of Commercial
Science
Vice President Emeritus, Niagara University,
NY, President’s Medal
Founders Award
2000 - Graduate Exercises
President and CEO, Ford Motor Company
of Canada, Oakville, Ontario, Doctor of Commercial Science
Auxiliary Bishop, Diocese of Buffalo,
Buffalo, NY, Doctor of Sacred Theology
Volunteer Administrator for the Native American/St.
Vincent de Paul Food Pantry, Caritas Medal
2000 - Undergraduate Exercises
Senior Vice President and Washington
Bureau Chief, NBC News, Doctor of Humane Letters
Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter,
Member, Board of Trustees, Doctor of Commercial Science
Retired Employee, Niagara University, NY, Medal of Honor
Assistant Commissioner,Office of Vocational and Educational
Services for Individuals with Disabilities, New York State Department
of Education, Caritas Medal
1999 - Graduate Exercises
Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario, Doctor of Laws
Dean, School of Nursing, Sisters of Charity
Hospital, Buffalo, NY, Doctor of Pedagogy
1999 - Undergraduate Exercises
Department of History, Northwestern
University, Evanston, IL, Author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize,
National Book Critics Award and the Peabody Award, Doctor of Humane Letters
Visiting Scholar, Center for the Study of Human Rights,
Columbia University, New York, NY, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Doctor of Humane Letters
Provincial Eastern Province,
Vincentian Fathers and Brothers, Philadelphia, PA, President’s
Medal
1998 - Graduate Exercises
Doctor
of Humane Letters
Doctor of Pedagogy
Doctor of Commercial Science
1998 - Undergraduate Exercises
Doctor of Fine Arts
Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Laws
1997 - Graduate Exercises
Host and Editor-In-Chief “Sunday
Edition” BBS and
CTV Canadian Television, Doctor of Letters
Canadian
Astronaut “Discovery”, 1992, Distinguished Professor – University
of Western Ontario, Doctor of Science
Director, Catholic Charities,
Diocese of Buffalo, Doctor of Humane Letters
1997 - Undergraduate Exercises
Director,
Joblessness and Urban Poverty Research Center, Malcolm Wiener Center
for Social Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University, Doctor of Letters
Founding member of Niagara Hospice and the Niagara
Oncology Association, President, Health Association of Niagara County,
Inc., Member, Board of Directors, Niagara County Unit, American
Cancer Society, Caritas Medal
Senior Vice President, ITT Corporation, President and Chief Executive
Office, ITT Sheraton Corporation, Doctor of Commercial Science
1996 - Graduate Exercises
President/CEO,
Occidental Chemical Corporation, Doctor of Commercial Science
Research Scholar, The Catholic University
of America, Doctor of Pedagogy
Jazz Pianist, Composer, Doctor of Fine Arts
President, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research
Institute, Doctor of Science
1996 - Undergraduate Exercises
President, Teachers College,
Columbia University, Doctor of Pedagogy
Bishop of Buffalo, Doctor of Humane Letters
Physician, Doctor of Humane Letters
Professor of Physics, University of Illinois
at Chicago, Doctor of Pedagogy
Presiding Justice, Appellate Division,
Supreme Court, Fourth Judicial Department, Doctor of Laws
1995 - Graduate Exercises
Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Doctor of Laws
President and CEO, Key Bank of New York, Doctor of Commercial
Sciences
Cultural Education Teacher, Tuscarora Indian School, Caritas
Medal
1995 - Undergraduate Exercises
Former Governor of
New York State, Executive Vice President and Director, Government Relations Division
of W. R. Grace & Co., Doctor of Laws
Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, Doctor of Laws
Assistant to the President for Planning,
Niagara University, NY, Medal of Honor
1994 - Graduate Exercises
Dean, School of Education,
DePaul University, Doctor of Pedagogy
Attorney at Law, Doctor of Humane Letters
1994 - Undergraduate Exercises
Academy Award-Winning Actress, Doctor of Fine Arts
Executive Vice President, Manufacturers & Traders
Trust Co., Buffalo, NY, Doctor of Commercial Science
Associate Professor of Religious
Studies, Niagara University, NY, President’s Medal
1993 - Graduate Exercises
Counsel,
Davidoff & Malito, President’s Medal
Chairman and Founder, Evaluation Associates
Capital Markets, Inc., Doctor of Commercial Science
Principal, St. John the Baptist
School, Brooklyn, NY, Doctor of Humane Letters
1993 - Undergraduate Exercises
Author and Co-Founder,
Institute for the Arts of Democracy, Doctor of Humane Letters
Coordinator, Hispanic Evangelization
Project, Eastern Province, Congregation of the Mission, Founders Award
Academic Vice President, Niagara University,
NY, Medal of Honor
1992 - Graduate Exercises
Maurice
Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale University Child Study
Center, Doctor of Pedagogy
Vice President-Western New York
Operations, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Doctor of Commercial
Science
Co-Director of the Emulsion Polymers
Institute, Lehigh University, Doctor of Science
1992 - Undergraduate Exercises
Director, Peace Corps of
the United States, Doctor of Humane Letters
Chairman and President, Foremost Group, Doctor of Laws
Dean Emeritus, Boston College School of Nursing, Doctor of Pedagogy
Provincial/Visitor of
the Eastern Province, Congregation of the Mission, Doctor of
Humane Letters
1991 - Graduate Exercises
Doctor
of Pedagogy
Doctor of Laws
Doctor of Commercial Science
1991 - Undergraduate Exercises
Doctor of Humane
Letters
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Fine Arts
Doctor of Commercial Science
1990 - Graduate Exercises
Doctor
of Commercial Science
Caritas Medal
Doctor of Humane Letters
1990 - Undergraduate Exercises
Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Commercial Science
Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Pedagogy