Marvin Minsky ’45 with the Andover Alumni Award of Distinction. After getting a bachelor’s degree and a PhD in mathematics, he built the first neural network simulator in 1951. A prestigious career at MIT would follow, in which Minsky has been credited with being one of the inventors of artificial intelligence and a founder of the MIT Media Lab. Minsky returned to campus and attended several math classes. It was following the All-School Meeting in the chapel when Marvin’s passion was revealed: well into his 80s, he took to the Steinway piano on the dais and played brilliantly for 15 minutes. We heard from Ai-jen Poo ’92 when she received the Fuess Award in 2016. Ms. Poo is a national labor organizer and leader of a social movement demanding that federal and state labor laws and protections be expanded to include the domestic worker workforce—the workforce “that makes all other work possible,” says Poo. During her All-School Meeting address, Poo said, “We’ve been taught this powerful myth for our whole lives ‘that we just got to get it together; go it alone; pull ourselves up by our bootstraps’,” Poo told the PA community. “But the truth is, once we’re born, we are part of an incredible web of human interdependence.” Those who watch the Golden Globes may have seen Ms. Poo enter the event as Meryl Streep’s guest. Finally, Ted Sizer, our 12th head of school, spoke of this idea of good people creating a good society when he said: “...[G]ood character can well be extended in our minds to include greater purposefulness, a more affirmative commitment to democratic ideals and higher standards of personal performance.” Many of you, in the senior survey, agreed with Sizer. For instance, one of you told us: “Being a good person, to me, means giving back to the community (whether it be the immediate local community or the world) as much as possible.” To the class of 2018: I rest my case. I know that you will make the world a better place by who you become in the years that follow today and by what you will contribute to the world—all the while informed by what you learned and experienced here at Andover. Finis origine pendet. To the grandparents, guardians, parents, and friends: on behalf of the faculty, staff, and trustees of Andover, I present to you the great Class of 2018, tested by high academic challenge, engaged by their larger community, touched by tragedy, connected to one another across differences of manifold kinds, and learned in the great end and real business of living. Congratulations and Godspeed. Thank you.
“At Andover, I was forced to confront, to wrestle, to grapple with this question: Who am I? Only at Andover, with people like this, do I believe I was able to grow into myself. The Class of 2018 is filled with curious, hungry, and inquisitive young minds who encourage and support this kind of growth, so that we leave knowing ourselves just a little bit better.” —Eastlyn Frankel School Copresident
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6. Moreland and Emma Chatson 7. Thomas Glover and Nick Schoeller 8. Claudia Leopold, Olivia Brokaw, and Grace Rademacher 9. Andrew Antonucci, Eugene Yoon, Morgan Cutts, and Evan Park
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Andover | Commencement 2018
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