“Amplifying the Dream” Theme Continues Throughout 50TH Anniversary Celebration
TIAA-cref’S Roger Ferguson and Financial Expert Adela Cepeda to Address the Graduates
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 5, 2013 — This year, Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY), one of the city’s most ethnically diverse institutions, will mark its 37th annual commencement. Taking place during its 50th anniversary year, themed “Amplifying the Dream,” the commencement will confer more than 500 degrees on Saturday, June 14, 2014 at 4 PM, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Roger W. Ferguson Jr., President and CEO of TIAA-CREF, and Adela Cepeda, President of A.C. Advisory, Inc., will both deliver speeches to the combined graduates from MCNY’s undergraduate and master’s programs.
As part of the 50th anniversary celebration, the College will pay tribute to graduates of classes from the 1960s and 1970s and honor longtime supporter and trustee Deborah Allen, who is retiring this year after working for and with the school for nearly five decades. In 1971, Allen was hired as a writer to distill and synthesize the development of Purpose-Centered Education, which stands as the College’s model today. After a brief hiatus from the College, she was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2008 and served as the Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee and Vice-Chair of the Board.
An honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters will be bestowed upon both of this year’s speakers as well as Mrs. Allen.
Honoree Roger W. Ferguson Jr. is President and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA-CREF, a Fortune 100 financial services organization and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields. He served on President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness as well as its predecessor, the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on the Long-Run Macro-Economic Effects of the Aging U.S. Population. He is also the former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, represented the Federal Reserve on several international policy groups and served on key Federal Reserve System committees, including Payment System Oversight, Reserve Bank Operations, and Supervision and Regulation. As the only Governor in Washington, D.C. on 9/11, he led the Fed’s initial response to the terrorist attacks, taking actions that kept the U.S. financial system functioning while reassuring the global financial community that the U.S. economy would not be paralyzed.
Prior to joining TIAA-CREF in April 2008, Mr. Ferguson was head of financial services for Swiss Re, Chairman of Swiss Re America Holding Corporation, and a member of the company’s executive committee. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and a member of the Academy’s Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. He is a board member of the Committee on Economic Development, the American Council of Life Insurers, the Institute for Advanced Study, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He is Chairman of the Economic Club of New York, Vice Chair of the Business-Higher Education Forum, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Group of Thirty.
“Earning a degree is about developing your human capital – and that’s the key to success,” advised Mr. Roger Ferguson. Learn more from the President and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA-CREF in an exclusive Q&A on mcny.edu.
Honoree Adela Cepeda is President of A.C. Advisory, Inc., one of the top 10 municipal financial advisors in the nation. Cepeda manages the structuring and execution of transactions in the capital markets for corporations and municipalities. As a corporate finance executive at Smith Barney, Harris Upham for over 10 years, Ms. Cepeda developed strong expertise in handling public and private debt, and equity transactions. She then left Wall Street to build her own firm, A.C. Advisory, which she has led to a national leadership position in municipal financial advisory services with over $100 billion in completed transactions. Ms. Cepeda has extensive community involvement and serves on many boards, including Window to the World Communications, Inc. (PBS Channel 11—WTTW).
“This year is extraordinarily special,” said Dr. Vinton Thompson, President of Metropolitan College of New York. “Not only do we celebrate another year of graduating the next class of business leaders, professionals and responsible citizens, but we also pause to reflect on a half-century of building generations and legacies of leaders, businesspeople, entrepreneurs and remarkable citizens. Our graduates have earned the tools they need to become outstanding leaders in their communities, this city and throughout the world.”
About Metropolitan College of New York
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, MCNY was founded in 1964 as the Talent Corps by Audrey Cohen, an educational visionary and activist. Through development and training for new professional positions, the Talent Corps created employment for thousands of people. It became The College for Human Services, later Audrey Cohen College, and today Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY). MCNY continues the tradition of offering highly motivated learners an education that combines applied skills and professional knowledge to effect personal transformation and positive change in the workplace and community. MCNY is a not-for-profit, accredited, independent college. Full year-round offerings accelerate degree completion, and a unique approach to learning permits close integration of workplace activities and study. MCNY is conveniently located in Hudson Square where SoHo meets TriBeCa at 431 Canal Street, NY, NY 10013. For more information on MCNY, visit www.mcny.edu or call 800.33.THINK.
