THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF NYU-POLY Summer 2009

Below, Mae C. Jemison, MD, the first African American
woman to travel in space, delivers her keynote address.
Opposite page, from left to right: President Hultin, Ralph
Alexander, managing director, Riverstone Holdings LLC
and chairman, NYU-Poly Board of Trustees, with honorary
degree recipients Craig Matthews, vice chairman and
COO (retired), KeySpan and immediate past chairman,
NYU-Poly Board of Trustees, Mae C. Jemison, president,
The Jemison Group, Andrew James Viterbi, creator of
the Viterbi Algorithm and co-founder of QUALCOMM, and
President John Sexton, New York University.
i 2 e Ignites NYU-Poly
Inaugural Commencement
STORY
Polytechnic Institute of NYU graduated its first class
as an affiliate of New York University on June 1 st at
Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall where Congressman
Anthony Weiner surprised the graduates.
“The way we measure progress in the
great American diaspora is that we always
hope that one generation exceeds the
expectations of the previous [one], and you
are doing it,” said the congressman from
New York’s 9th District.
“Every graduating class is special in
their own right,” said NYU-Poly President
Jerry Hultin at the 154th commencement
exercises, “but today we are particularly
proud of the Class of 2009, the very first
graduates of the Polytechnic Institute of
New York University.”
As he began his congratulatory remarks,
President Hultin held up the June 8, 2009
edition of Business Week magazine featuring
Ursula Burns ’80ME, president of Xerox
Corp., and the first African American
woman to lead a Fortune 100 corporation.
Burns’ success is an historic triumph and
a testament to the power of a NYU-Poly
education. However, President Hultin didn’t
shy from addressing the sobering realities the
graduates of 2009 face: a severely troubled
economy, high unemployment, climate and
environmental concerns, and ever-rising
population growth.
“I am convinced you will adapt to
these new challenges and changes,” said
President Hultin who quoted an excerpt
from President John F. Kennedy’s 1962
Yale University commencement address.
“In President Kennedy’s words, you will
‘disenthrall yourself from the truisms and
stereotypes of the past.’ And to paraphrase
President Obama: ‘Yes, you can!’
“I am sure you will join us to
invent and innovate in Polytechnic’s
spirit of i 2 e [invention, innovation, and
entrepreneurship].”
New York University President
John Sexton echoed President Hultin’s
sentiments about the challenges of the 21 st
century, specifically how we will create a
“community of humankind” as immigrants
from hundreds of different nations with
countless cultural traditions and religions
live side-by-side in global cities and towns.
“In addition to the technical skills you’ve
[gained], it’s the human skill that you’ve
mastered at this great university, now NYU-
Poly,” President Sexton told the Class of 2009.
“As you go forth into the world, innovate,
change, make a better tomorrow, and make it
a more human community for all of us.”
Mae C. Jemison, MD, Craig G.
Matthews ’71MG, and Andrew James Viterbi,
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