Leading Cancer Biologist Bruce Stillman to Deliver Keynote Address at
C.W. Post Commencement Sunday, May 13

More than 2,800 students will gather on the Great Lawn on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13, 2007 for the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University’s 49th commencement exercises. World renowned cancer researcher Bruce Stillman, who is president and chief executive officer of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science and will deliver the keynote address.

A major force in the world of cancer research, Dr. Stillman has served on the board of the National Cancer Institute and is one of the chief architects of the Human Cancer Genome Project, a national initiative to uncover the genetic mutations that cause cancer in humans. A fellow of the Royal Society of London, Dr. Stillman’s research focuses on the mechanism and regulation of DNA replication in eukaryotes, a process that ensures accurate inheritance of genetic material from one cell generation to the next.

As part of the main ceremony, an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters also will be awarded to Lewis S. Ranieri, founder of Hyperion Private Equity Funds and chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Ranieri & Co., Inc., a private investment advisor and management corporation.

A Distinguished Alumni Award will be presented to Bob Jahelka (Class of 1984 accountancy), managing partner of Demasco, Sena & Jahelka LLP, a Massapequa-based firm that specializes in not-for-profit, hospitality and forensic accounting. Jahelka, who also is president of Pioneer Mortgage Network, Inc. and a partner in Pioneer Financial Group LLC, serves as president of the C.W. Post Alumni Association.  Also receiving a Distinguished Alumni Award is Frank F. Villano (Class of 1969 sociology), President of Riverside Marketing, LLC, and founder of Villano Miller., Inc.; Computer Research Group; and Electronic Processing Source, Inc., which provides credit card processing and financing services to the travel and entertainment industries.

Commencement 2007 will include the presentation of the Long Island University Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Service. This award recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to campuses of Long Island University. The Chancellor’s Award will be presented to Michael Soupios, a C.W. Post political philosophy professor who has nine university degrees, including four master’s degrees and four doctorates. The most widely requested professor at C.W. Post, Dr. Soupios is an expert in ancient and modern European political theory and co-author of the new book “The Ten Rules of Spiritual Fulfillment.”

Speech-Language Pathology major Derek Petti of Lockport, N.Y., is C.W. Post’s Valedictorian. Petti, 21, is a stand-out athlete on the track and field team, an accomplished saxophone player, a member of the Symphonic Band, a contributing writer for the C.W. Post Pioneer student newspaper and a member of the student chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association. A member of the Honors Program, he will be the main student speaker at the commencement ceremony, and will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology.

Dana DeBari, 21, an honors student and resident of Levittown, N.Y., has been named Salutatorian. DeBari, who will be awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology, wrote her Honors thesis on stuttering in preschool children and will attend graduate school in the Fall.

The Nassau County Secondary School Teacher of the Year Award, which recognizes exemplary teaching, will be awarded to Diane E. Pryor of Lynbrook, a mathematics teacher at Malverne High School.  

The Class of 2007 includes 964 baccalaureate degree candidates, 1,832 master's degree candidates, 14 graduates receiving the Psy.D. in clinical psychology and 5 receiving the Ph.D. in information studies. This year, C.W. Post’s commencement ceremonies also include graduates from Southampton College and the Southampton Graduate Campus of Long Island University.

For more information call the C.W. Post Commencement Hotline at 516-299-3242 or visit www.liu.edu/cwpcommencement

The C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, located in Brookville, New York, enrolls 8,500 students in more than 255 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in accountancy, business, education, liberal arts and sciences, information and computer science, health professions and nursing, public service, and visual and performing arts. C.W. Post also offers doctorates in information studies and clinical psychology as well as an extensive continuing education program. C.W. Post is part of Long Island University, one of the largest and most comprehensive private universities in the United States.

Posted: April 10, 2007