GRADUATION CEREMONY | SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES 2020 Saturday, May 16, 2020 #ColumbiaSPSGraduation COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK 1 About the School of Professional Studies The School of Professional Studies at Columbia University offers instruction for students from high school age and up, with an innovative and market- driven curriculum that represents the highest level of academic excellence in a wide variety of subjects. Our mission is to provide a rigorous education, informed by rapidly evolving global market needs, that supports the academic and professional aspirations of our diverse student community. Our vision is to become the premier destination for professional education by generating interdisciplinary thought leadership, developing innovative pedagogy, and advancing globally competitive academic solutions for ambitious agents of change and impact. Order of Academic Processi20on DEAN’S AddRESS Dr. Jason Wingard Dean and Professor, School of Professional Studies GRADUATION CEREMONY AddRESS Cory Booker United States Senator for New Jersey STUDENT AddRESS Marly Isler 2020 Candidate for M.S. in Sustainability Management PRESENTATION OF AWARDS Dr. Jason Wingard Dean and Professor, School of Professional Studies CLOSING REMARKS Dr. Jason Wingard Dean and Professor, School of Professional Studies PRESENTATION OF THE CANDIDATES Dr. Jason Wingard Dean and Professor, School of Professional Studies 1 About the Speakers20 Dr. Jason Wingard Dr. Jason Wingard is a leading executive and academic in the areas of organizational strategy, leadership development, and the future of work. He currently serves as dean and professor at the Columbia University School of Professional Studies. The School features 17 interdisciplinary master’s degree programs including Applied Analytics, Bioethics, Enterprise Risk Management, Human Capital Management, Strategic Communication, and Technology Management. In this role, he is responsible for the academic research, programming, and operational performance of the School’s undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs and related centers and institutes. He is also currently founding partner of the Education Board, Inc., a boutique management consulting firm specializing in corporate training, executive coaching, and board development. Prior to joining Columbia University, Dr. Wingard served as managing director and chief learning officer at Goldman Sachs, a multinational investment bank. At Goldman Sachs, he oversaw the acclaimed Pine Street Leadership Development Group and Goldman Sachs University and was responsible for the strategy and implementation of leadership development solutions for the firm’s partners, global workforce, and clients. Previously, he served as vice dean of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he was the head of the Executive Education division and oversaw one of the world’s largest providers of leadership and management development. He also served as senior vice president of ePals Inc. and president and CEO of the ePals Foundation. The company (now Cricket Media) is the world’s leading provider of interactive, collaborative learning products. Prior to joining ePals, Dr. Wingard was executive director of the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute, at Stanford University, where he led the engagement of executive coaching and applied research practicums for leaders across the United States. He has also served in a variety of cross- functional executive and consulting roles for organizations including the Aspen Institute, the Vanguard Group, and Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI). 2 20 About the Speakers20 As a thought leader, Dr. Wingard has published widely on the topic of strategy and leadership, including his most recent books: Learning to Succeed: Rethinking Corporate Education in a World of Unrelenting Change (2015); and Learning for Life: How Continuous Education Will Keep Us Competitive in the Global Knowledge Economy (2016). His forthcoming book is The Future of Work: Optimizing the Talent Pipeline (in press, 2020). He is also a LinkedIn Influencer and regular senior contributor to the Leadership column for Forbes. Dr. Wingard is a frequent keynote speaker. Recent engagements include the National Football League, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, and General Electric. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Tides (co-chair), Roundabout Theatre Company (executive committee member), and the Education Board (chair). He previously served on the Board of Directors for United Cerebral Palsy and the National Center for Fathering. Dr. Wingard holds a B.A. in sociology (organizational behavior and social psychology), with honors, from Stanford University, where he was a member of the varsity football and track teams. He also holds an M.A. in education (professional development) from Emory University; an Ed.M. in technology in education from Harvard University; and a Ph.D. in education, culture, and society (corporate education) from the University of Pennsylvania. He enjoys classic jazz, cycling, and spending time with his wife and their children. 3 About the Speakers20 Cory Booker Cory Booker believes that the American dream isn’t real for anyone unless it’s within reach of everyone. Booker has dedicated his life to fighting for those who have been left out, left behind, or left without a voice. Booker grew up in northern New Jersey and received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University. At Stanford, Booker played varsity football, volunteered for the campus peer counseling center, and wrote for the student newspaper. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and went on to study at the University of Oxford, and then Yale Law School, where he graduated in 1997. Instead of working for a corporate law firm, Booker moved to Newark after law school and started a nonprofit organization to provide legal services for low-income families, helping tenants take on slumlords. In 1998, Booker moved into the Brick Towers housing project in Newark, where he lived until its demolition in 2006. Booker still lives in Newark’s Central Ward today, where the median household income is less than $15,000. At 29, Booker was elected to the Newark City Council, where he challenged the city’s entrenched political machine and fought to improve living conditions for city residents, increase public safety, and reduce crime. Starting in 2006, Booker served as Newark’s mayor for more than seven years. During his tenure, the city entered its largest period of economic growth since the 1960s. In addition, overall crime declined and the quality of life for residents improved due to initiatives such as more affordable housing, new green spaces and parks, increased educational opportunities, and more efficient city services. 4 20 About the Speakers20 In October 2013, Booker won a special election to represent New Jersey in the United States Senate. In November 2014, Booker was reelected for a full six-year term. As New Jersey’s junior senator, Booker has brought an innovative and consensus-building approach to tackling some of the most difficult problems facing New Jersey and our country. He has emerged as a national leader in the effort to fix our broken criminal justice system and end mass incarceration, helping craft the most sweeping set of criminal justice reforms in a generation, the First Step Act, which became law in December 2018. Booker sits on the Judiciary Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, and the Environment and Public Works Committee. 5 About the Speakers20 Marly Isler Marly Isler is a Master of Science candidate in Sustainability Management at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. She received her B.A. in 2016 from Yale University, majoring in American studies, with a focus in architecture and environmental studies. Her thesis explored the social and environmental impacts of urban planning along the U.S.-Mexico border. Outside the classroom, she was a four-year member of the Yale Varsity Sailing Team and served as captain in her senior year. She remains connected to the Yale community through her volunteer work as the New York co-chair of Yale Blue Green, an alumni interest group for environmentalism. She was elected to the Yale Alumni Association Delegation last year. After graduation Ms. Isler moved to Washington, D.C., and began working at Latham & Watkins, a leading global law firm. In her role as sustainability program coordinator, the first job of its kind at the firm, she developed corporate strategies around procurement practices and implemented energy- efficiency initiatives across 33 offices. While at Latham, she frequently crossed paths with graduates of her current program. Ultimately, she applied to the Sustainability Management program to broaden her technical skill set, especially with regard to data analysis for sustainability projects. At Columbia, Ms. Isler has taken advantage of courses across the University’s graduate programs, including at the School of International and Public Affairs and the Law School. Through classes in the Sustainability Management program, she has amassed a breadth of knowledge in the areas of equity, social justice, and climate change and developed critical proficiencies in greenhouse gas emissions accounting and sustainable financial systems analysis. In the summer of 2019 she interned at SustainAbility, a consulting firm for sustainable corporations. While there she synthesized the current state of corporate sustainability reporting, interviewing academic