CCNY’S 164th Commencement Set for May 28

Nobel Laureate Leon Lederman ’43 to Address Graduates; College to Honor H. Jack Geiger, Richard Ravitch

Dr. Leon M. Lederman, a 1943 graduate of The City College of New York (CCNY) and one of its nine Nobel Laureates, will be the guest speaker at the College’s 164th Commencement Exercises, 10 a.m. Friday, May 28, on the College campus.

In addition, the College will confer an honorary degree on Dr. H. Jack Geiger, Arthur C. Logan Professor of Community Medicine at the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and present The City College President’s Medal for Distinguished Service to New York State Lt. Governor Richard Ravitch. CCNY previously conferred an honorary degree on Sy Sternberg, ’65 EE, philanthropist and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of New York Life Insurance Co., at a Physics Symposium April 23.
 
Dr. Robert E. Paaswell, Interim President of The City College, will preside over the Commencement exercises. Trustee Frieda D. Foster and Marc V. Shaw, Senior Vice Chancellor for Budget, Finance and Financial Policy, will offer greetings on behalf of The City University of New York. 

The Class of 2010 includes approximately 3,248 students, of whom approximately 2,051 are candidates for bachelor's degrees. 
Atin Saha, a 21-year-old Glen Oaks, Queens, resident, whose father graduated from CCNY in 1991, is the Class of 2010 Valedictorian. He will receive a BE in biomedical engineering and graduate with a 3.99 GPA.

Mr. Saha, who was born in New York to Indian immigrant parents, plans a career in both medicine and research. However, he will first detour through corporate America as a financial analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. He interned at the investment bank last summer while a public policy fellow in the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies, which led to the job offer.

Mr. Saha was a Grove Scholar in the College’s Grove School of Engineering and a member of CCNY’s Honors Program. His other honors include membership in the Golden Key International Honor Society and the Tau Beta Pi national engineering honor society; the Zemansky Introductory Physics Prize and the CCNY Dean’s List. 

Franka A. Warner-Johnson is this year’s Salutatorian. The Trinidad native will graduate with a 3.95 GPA and a BA in English Literature.

The Harlem resident plans to attend graduate school after receiving her degree and is mulling acceptances from CCNY, Hunter College, New York University and Columbia University. Her goal is to teach 19th century British and Caribbean literature. 

For bios of CCNY’s 164th Commencement guest speaker and honorees, click here.

About The City College President’s Medal

The City College President’s Medal is awarded for distinguished achievement and public service. Past recipients include: Nobel Laureate Dr. Robert Aumann, Coretta Scott King, Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA (ret.), Nobel Laureate Leon M. Lederman, astronaut Mario Runco Jr., Bill Cosby and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. In 2002, the medal was awarded to the men and women of New York City’s uniformed services for their heroic service on and after September 11, 2001.