Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLASS OF 2005 TO HEAR FROM CEO

OF NELLIE MAE EDUCATION FOUNDATION

(WORCESTER – April 20, 2005) Blenda J. Wilson, president and CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, will be the featured speaker at the 129^th Commencement of Worcester State College (WSC). She will address graduates and their families at the ceremony scheduled for 1 p.m., Sunday, May 15, 2005 at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA.

A nationally known speaker on higher education policy issues, Wilson is the first president of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, promoting accessibility, quality, and effectiveness in education, especially for under-served populations. She was formerly president of California State University, Northridge where she received high praise from educators and public officials around the country for having successfully led the university's recovery from the Northridge earthquake of January 1994. Prior to that, she served as chancellor of the University of Michigan Dearborn. Wilson received her doctorate in Higher Education Administration from Boston College. She will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters during the ceremony.

Local dance educator and businesswoman Charlotte Z. Klein will also be awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters. The Charlotte Klein Dance Studios are located in both the Worcester and Westboro areas. Her former students have successfully performed on Broadway, movies, television and academically. She and her husband Ben established the Elisa Ruth Klein Fund at UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center to support children who have cystic fibrosis and established an Endowed Scholarship for the Performing Arts at Worcester State College. She is an active alumna and a valued member of the Worcester State Foundation Board.

The annual Community Service Award will go to Edwin B. Coghlin, Jr., treasurer of Coghlin Electrical Contractors, a business that has served the community for over 120 years. He has worked tirelessly with many local charities. As chairman of the Central Massachusetts Regional Employment Board, he has advocated for regional job growth. Recently, he successfully lobbied for support of the largest municipal construction in Worcester history, the Worcester Vocational High School.

Five distinguished WSC faculty will be awarded Emeritus status on the occasion of their retirement.  They are: M. June Allard, professor of Psychology, Robert E. Lingner, professor of Physical and Earth Sciences, Michael E. Mulcahy, professor of Mathematics, Anne Marie Shea, professor of Performing Arts, and Robert W. Thompson, professor of Physical and Earth Sciences.

The 2004 Excellence in Teaching Award, awarded every year to one member of the faculty for outstanding pedagogy, will go to Steven J. Oliver of the Biology Department.

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