Rutgers-Newark Will Graduate Nearly 2,400 in Six Ceremonies, Award
Honorary Degrees to Prudential Chairman Ryan, Neuroscientist Wolf Singer

(Newark, N.J., April 25, 2008) –  The strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” will be played  six times as graduates march into six separate commencement ceremonies for the schools of Rutgers University in Newark next month.  Between May 20 and May 23, the university will award bachelors, masters, doctorates and Juris Doctors degrees to nearly 2,400 graduates.  Rutgers also will award honorary degrees to both the chairman of Prudential Financial, Arthur F. Ryan, and to Dr. Wolf Singer, M.D., an internationally renowned neuroscientist. Ryan will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on the morning of May 20 during the convocation for the Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick.  Singer will be honored that afternoon at the joint convocation of the Newark College of Arts and Sciences and the University College.  Singer will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree.  Each honoree also will address the graduates at his respective ceremonies, both of which will take place in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. (A complete list of ceremony dates, times and locations appears at end.)

Ryan was named chairman of the Board of Directors, president, and chief executive officer of Prudential Insurance in 1994, and became president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board in 1997. He has been a leader in numerous community service and non-profit organizations, including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Business Coalition for Student Achievement, the New Jersey United for Higher School Standards, and the Business Coalition for Education Excellence. Ryan founded the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program  to honor middle and high school students for outstanding community service, and during his tenure, the Prudential Foundation underwrote more than $325 million in grants, most going toward education programs and initiatives.

Singer is director of the Department of Neurophysiology at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and founding director of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies. His numerous awards include the Körber Prize for the European Sciences, the Krieg Cortical Discoverer Award, the Hans Berger Prize, and the Hebb Award. In addition to receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Oldenburg, Dr. Singer was made a knight of the Legion of Honor, one of the highest distinctions in France, and awarded membership to the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The May 20 ceremonies begin nearly a week of commencement activities for Rutgers in Newark.  On May 21, the School of Criminal Justice will hold its commencement in the Rutgers Golden Dome Athletic Center. The speaker is Commissioner Andrew Hughes, UN Police Adviser and Director of the Police Division in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. He joined the United Nations after a 30-year career in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) where he gained extensive experience at the local, regional, national, and international levels.

On May 22 Rutgers College of Nursing graduates will hear an address by Dr. Beverly Whipple, Rutgers-Newark professor emerita and Rutgers alumna, in the Golden Dome Athletic Center.  A renowned author and leader in the sexual health profession, Dr. Whipple conducts research focused primarily on women’s health issues and the sexual physiology of women. In 2006, the New Scientist named Dr. Whipple one of the 50 most influential scientists in the world.

Later that same day, the Golden Dome Athletic Center will be the site of a joint  commencement ceremony for the Graduate School-Newark and the School of Public Affairs and Administration. The speaker for the joint ceremony is Yale Ferguson, a Rutgers-Newark political science professor specializing in global politics. He is co-director of the Rutgers Division of Global Affairs and was one of the founders of the Division’s predecessor, the Rutgers Center for Global Change and Governance. A prolific writer, Ferguson’s publications include 11 books and over 50 journal articles and book chapters.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is the main speaker for the final commencement, for the Rutgers School of Law-Newark, on May 23, in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Mayor Booker took the oath of office as mayor of New Jersey's largest city on July 1, 2006; previously he served as staff attorney for the Urban Justice Center, program coordinator of the Newark Youth Project, and as a city councilman, earning a reputation as a leader with innovative ideas and bold actions, from increasing security in public housing to building new playgrounds. Mayor Booker has received recognition in numerous publications, including Esquire, which named him one of America's 40 best and brightest in December 2002, and Black Enterprise, which placed him on the “Hot List: America's Most Powerful Players under 40” in December 2005.

Maps, directions, parking information and other commencement details are online at http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/commencement/   Members of the media must register in advance by calling Carla Capizzi, 973/353-5262, to obtain passes to ceremonies in the NJPAC.

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY IN NEWARK

2008 COMMENCEMENT DATES

Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 10 a.m., RUTGERS BUSINESS SCHOOL-NEWARK AND NEW BRUNSWICK

New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark

Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 2 p.m., RUTGERS COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES-NEWARK AND RUTGERS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE-NEWARK (JOINT CONVOCATION)

New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark

Wednesday, May 21, 2008, 10 a.m.,  RUTGERS SCHOOL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Golden Dome Athletic Center, 110 Warren St., Newark

Thursday, May 22, 2008, 10 a.m., RUTGERS COLLEGE OF NURSING

Golden Dome Athletic Center, 110 Warren St., Newark

Thursday, May 22, 2008, 2 p.m., RUTGERS GRADUATE SCHOOL-NEWARK AND RUTGERS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS & ADMINISTRATION

Golden Dome Athletic Center, 110 Warren St., Newark

Friday, May 23, 2008, 10 a.m., RUTGERS SCHOOL OF LAW-NEWARK

New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark