Sky’s the limit for RPI grads
1,888 degrees awarded during school’s 213th commencement
TROY, N.Y. >> In 1961, President Kennedy challenged America to put a man on the moon, a “Giant Leap for Mankind” whose 50th anniversary will be celebrated this summer on July 20.
Before long, Hundrik Humes might be part of a team that mines asteroids for iron and gold.
An aerospace engineering major, he was among the 1,888 students from 44 states and 29 foreign countries who received degrees during Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s 213th commencement on Saturday.
“Laying claim to celestial bodies, that’s where the future is going to be,” Humes said. “I’m coming right back here for my master’s degree in satellite automation. I think we’re going to be seeing mostly automation in space because putting people up there is just so expensive.”
“Once we start opening up asteroid mining, that’s just going to be so profitable,” he said. “A single asteroid has more iron and gold in it than has ever been mined from our planet. That’s a lot of money on the line. It all depends on the budget the government gives us.”
The world of possibilities he and other graduates have before them was hardly imaginable when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.
Commencement exercises were held at the East Campus
rapid population growth in underdeveloped countries, and countless refugees seeking relief from persecution, political conflict, and climate change.
“What all of these challenges and most of the others we face have in common is the relevance of natural science, social science, and engineering to understanding the nature of these problems in all their complexity and to identifying and implementing remedies,” Holdren said.
Prior to serving the Obama administration, Holdren was Teresa & John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School and professor of environmental science and policy in Harvard’s Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences. He was reappointed to these positions in February 2017, after Obama left office.
He is a member of the U.S. National Academies of Science and Engineering, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, among other U.S. and foreign academies.
Many undergrads will further their education, either staying at RPI or going elsewhere to schools such as Albany Medical College, Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Purdue, Johns Hopkins University and Savannah College of Art & Design.
Class President Kinsley Rowan, a biomedical engineering major from Portland, Ore., will begin studying for her master’s degree at RPI this fall, with a focus on systems engineering and technology management.
Students headed directly into the workforce will be joining companies such as Bloomberg, Boston Scientific, Emerson, EYP Architecture & Engineering, Frito-Lay, Hospital for Special Surgery, MathWorks, Raytheon, Sandia National Laboratories and SpaceX.
Each year’s graduating class presents RPI with a unique class gift. The Class of 2019 is providing financial support for future students to attend Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond, a program that provides opportunities for incoming first-year students to meet their classmates and bond through different overnight trips around the Capital Region.
Other honorary degrees were bestowed on Helene D. Gayle, a doctor of humane letters, and James J. Barba, doctor of laws.
Gayle is president and chief executive officer of The Chicago Community Trust, one of the nation’s oldest and largest community foundations. An expert in public health and global development, he was previously president and chief executive officer of CARE and held leadership roles at the Centers for Disease Control and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Named one of Forbes’ “100 Most Powerful Women,” Gayle is on the board of directors at The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive Company, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Rockefeller Foundation, Brookings Institution, New America, and the ONE Campaign. Dr. Gayle earned a B.A. from Barnard College, an M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, an M.P.H. at Johns Hopkins University, and has 16 honorary degrees.
Barba is president and chief executive officer of Albany Medical Center Hospital. He oversees the largest locally governed healthcare system in 25 counties as well as Albany Medical College, one of the nation’s oldest medical schools; a biomedical research operation; a workforce of more than 13,000; and a Physician Practice Group of over 650.
From 1994 to 2006, he was board chairman of Albany Med. Barba has served on numerous special commissions and councils by gubernatorial appointment and at the request of his peers. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School and of Siena College.
Sibel Adali, associate dean of science for research and graduate programs and professor of computer science, is this year’s recipient of the David M. Darrin ‘40 Counseling Award, which recognizes a faculty member who has made an unusual contribution in the counseling of undergraduate students. The selection of the award recipient is made by Phalanx, Rensselaer’s student leadership honorary society.
College President Shirley Ann Jackson cited several students who have already begun making a difference before leaving RPI.
For example, Class of 2019 member Lydia Krauss has designed devices to empower those with physical impairments, including blocks to help children learn Braille.
Noon Farsab came to the U.S. five years ago with her mother and six siblings, and no command of the English language. Now armed with a degree in mechanical engineering, she hopes to return home and give people necessities such as running water and energy for cooking.
“You are inventors, innovators, artists, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers,” Jackson said. “Make this a better world. We know that you have the resilience, tenacity, confidence, curiosity, and education to do just that.”