Order of Ceremonies
Les Barricades Mystérieuses François Couperin
Gymnopédie No. 1 Erik Satie
Rêverie ....................................................................................... Claude Debussy
Prelude in C Johann Sebastian Bach
Donald Meineke
Pianist
Academic Procession*
Pomp and Circumstance
Edward Elgar
National Anthem* music by John Stafford Smith lyrics by Francis Scott Key
Star-Spangled Banner
O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Introduction Michael H. Mittelman, OD, MPH, LHD (Hon.), MBA President
Graduate Commencement Address Taylor Marie Schanne College of Health Sciences, Education and Rehabilitation
* The audience is requested to stand with the Faculty and Graduates during the Academic Procession, Recessional and during the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner and is invited to join in the singing.
Honorary Degree Doctor of Humane Letters
Oration Gerard O’Sullivan, PhD
Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs
Conferring of Honorary Degree.................................... President Mittelman
Paul Jensen, PhD
Nina Henderson Provost, Drexel University
Paul E. Jensen, PhD, is the Nina Henderson Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs for Drexel University, appointed on November 1, 2019. He was previously dean and R. John Chapel, Jr., Dean’s Chair of the LeBow College of Business, having joined LeBow’s economics faculty in 1997.
As the Nina Henderson Provost, Provost Jensen is responsible for ensuring excellence and innovation in teaching, learning and research at Drexel University. Dr. Jensen oversees undergraduate and graduate programs across Drexel’s colleges, schools and centers and focuses on key areas that harness Drexel’s strengths of inclusion, innovation and partnership.
In his role, he has collaborated to advance a number of Universitywide initiatives, including improving infrastructure to foster curricular and program innovation and implementing the Responsibility Center Management budgeting model to promote a culture of transparency.
Provost Jensen served on the executive committee that created the Strategic Plan Drexel 2030: Designing the Future and facilitated the identification and elevation of Drexel’s Areas of Excellence and Opportunity, which leverage the University’s core strengths in education, innovation, research and partnership.
Throughout his tenure, Provost Jensen has sought to capitalize on his expertise in international trade and industrial organization, and his experience at a multinational company to elevate academic and research collaborations between the University and external partners.
Honorary Degree Doctor of Humane Letters
Oration Elizabeth Moy, MSW Chief of Staff, Office of the President
Conferring of Honorary Degree.................................... President Mittelman
Elisabeth Van Bockstaele, PhD
Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President for Graduate Education, Drexel University
Elisabeth Van Bockstaele, PhD, is the founding dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies at Drexel University. She also serves as senior vice president for graduate and online education and dean of the Graduate College at Drexel.
She comes to the Drexel College of Medicine from Thomas Jefferson University where she was a tenured professor in the Department of Neuroscience and the founding director of the graduate program in Neuroscience at the Jefferson Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. For several years, she was vice chair for research in the Department of Neurological Surgery of Jefferson Medical College, and she has held numerous leadership roles in graduate and medical school courses, including coordinating graduate courses.
The graduate neuroscience program Dr. Van Bockstaele founded at Jefferson was the first interdisciplinary, non–department–based graduate program at the University. She oversaw the development of a curriculum that bridges basic neuroscience and clinical neuroscience and engaged clinicians in didactic coursework and as mentors of the graduate students. She has a demonstrated commitment to providing a mentoring infrastructure that supports graduate students and fellows in their pursuit of research funding, and several of her own recent predoctoral students have obtained National Institutes of Health (NIH) predoctoral fellowships.
Dr. Van Bockstaele’s research has been consistently funded throughout her career, beginning in 1994 when she was an assistant professor of neuroscience at Cornell University Medical College. Data collected in her laboratory has been published in more than 160 peer-reviewed papers, reviews, and book chapters, and more than 80 symposium proceedings. She has been a member of, or chaired, several fellowship study sections for the NIH, as well as center grant and program project
reviews, and recently completed service as chair of a standing NIH study section, Neuroimmunology, Neuroendocrinology, Rhythms and Sleep. She has held various leadership positions in the Society for Neuroscience, the world’s largest organization of scientists devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system.
Dr. Van Bockstaele received her PhD and master’s degrees in neurobiology from New York University, with a minor in biochemistry and molecular biology, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Cornell University Medical College before joining the faculty there. She is a 2010 graduate of Drexel University College of Medicine’s Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® program for women.
Music Interlude
Honors
A complete list of award recipients is present on the University website at www.salus.edu/commencement
Announcement of Honors James M. Caldwell, OD, EdD Associate Provost and Dean of Student Affairs
Division of Global, Interprofessional, and Specialized Programming Blindness and Low Vision Studies Program Alumni Association Award
Attainment of the highest academic average.
College of Health Sciences, Education and Rehabilitation Physician Assistant Studies Program Alumni Association Award
Attainment of the highest academic average.
Clinical Excellence Award
Demonstrated excellence in the clinical phase of the program.
Pi Alpha National Honor Society
Pi Alpha National Honor Society is organized for the promotion and recognition of significant academic achievement, leadership, research, community/professional service and related activities, and the encouragement of a high standard of character and conduct.
Osborne College of Audiology
Doctor of Audiology Program
Alumni Association Award
Attainment of the highest academic average.
Degrees
Presentation of Candidates
Provost O’Sullivan
Conferring of Degree President Mittelman
Division of Global, Interprofessional and Specialized Programming
Master of Science in Clinical Optometry
International Advanced Studies Certificate
Anisa Irshad
Division of Global, Interprofessional, and Specialized Programming
Master of Science
Low Vision Rehabilitation
Marisol Ballines
Division of Global, Interprofessional, and Specialized Programming
Master of Science
Orientation and Mobility
Anissa Najm
Mark Ruoff
Tiffany Amber Weitzel
Division of Global, Interprofessional, and Specialized Programming
Master of Science
Vision Rehabilitation Therapy
Alexandria K. Bejarano
Mara L. Foster-Gray
Osborne College of Audiology
Master of Science in Clinical Audiology
Mohammad Al Shanteer
College of Health Sciences, Education and Rehabilitation
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy
Julia Webb
College of Health Sciences, Education and Rehabilitation
Master of Medical Science
Physician Assistant Studies
Abigail Sarah Bezar
Cody Blattner
Chelsey Lenka Boguslawski
Madison Olivia Clawson
Emily Jane Damico
Julia M. Drozdowsky
Morgan Alyssa Gianelle
Sophia Ludovica Giavotto
Julia Ariel Jaffe
Sarah Nicole Jones
Justin Robert Kapke
Mackenzie Kathleen Kelly
Mahek Fatema Kermalli
Momina Khan
Jennifer Lynne Kielhorn
Lavinia Davis Kitson
Gabrielle Alexis Kuntz
Sally Li
Emily Catherine Long
Caroline D. McCleary
Malana Elise Manquen
Allison Elizabeth Marks
Nathan Paul Macleary
Kathleen Bridget Miller
Lauren Therese Miller
Erin Joi Monacci
Jyothi Sarasa Mony
Joseph D. O’Brien
Catherine Oakley
Brandon C. Peters
Raya Lyn Pezzillo
Ethan J. Price
Taylor Dawn Price
Ferdison Kyle Ramos
Lilly Delphene Rapps
Nicholas Rosa
Anna Claire Saginario
Whitney Leigh Schroeder
Taylor Marie Schanne
Jacob A. Spivack
Julianna Marie Stevens
Kelly Anne Striker
Nimra Tahir
Grace Elizabeth Tasman
Huntur Bradley Woodard
Joe-Michael Mikhael Zaarour
Presentation of Candidates ............................................... Provost O’Sullivan
Conferring of Degree President Mittelman
Osborne College of Audiology
Doctor of Audiology – Online Bridge Program
Nadiah Abdul Khalil
Bittu Mathew Aliyas
Inas Alrubaye
Taha Kais Taha Al-Shalash
Rawan Badriah
Deema Moh’d Taw Ikbarieh
Smarty Merin
Christopher John Radford
Alejandro Rodicio
Jagrati Sharma
Nadia Maria Vas Falcao
Krishna Priya VK
Saba Zafar
This program was printed before final certification of graduation. Therefore, this listing is tentative only. Any errors or omissions are inadvertent, and the university cannot be held responsible. The academic transcript is the official record.
** All Health and Service Professionals in attendance, including the graduating class, are invited to stand and take this opportunity to read aloud, with Dr. O’Sullivan, “The Oath to Professionalism.”
The Oath to Professionalism
With full deliberation I freely and solemnly pledge that:
I will practice the art and science of my chosen profession faithfully and conscientiously, and to the fullest scope of my competence.
I will uphold and honorably promote by example and action the highest standards, ethics and ideals of my chosen profession.
I will provide professional care for those who seek my services, with concern, with compassion and with due regard for their human rights and dignity without discrimination.
I will place the treatment of those whom I serve above personal gain and strive to see that none shall lack for proper care with their welfare my utmost concern.
I will maintain absolute confidentiality of all information provided by those who seek my services.
I will continuously strive to broaden my knowledge and skills to deliver all new and efficacious means to enhance my services.
I will do my utmost to serve my community, my country and humankind.
I hereby commit myself to be steadfast in the performance of this, my solemn oath and obligation.
Congratulations from the Salus University Alumni Association ................. Evan Schulz, MMS, PA-C Physician Assistant Studies, Class of 2019
Music Postlude
Polonaise Militaire, Op. 40, No. 1 ......................................... Frédéric Chopin
* THE AUDIENCE’S COOPERATION IS REQUESTED TO PLEASE REMAIN SEATED UNTIL THE GRADUATES HAVE PASSED DOWN THE AISLE.
Presidents
Salus University
Established 2008
2013 – present Michael H. Mittelman, OD, MPH, LHD (Hon.), MBA
2008 – 2013 ..........................................................
Thomas L. Lewis, OD, PhD
Presidents
Pennsylvania College of Optometry
Established 1919
1989 – 2008 Thomas L. Lewis, OD, PhD
1979 – 1989........................................... Melvin D. Wolfberg, OD, LHD (Hon)
1972 – 1979 ......................................Norman E. Wallis, OD, PhD, DSc (Hon)
1960 – 1972 Lawrence Fitch, OD
1919 – 1960 Albert Fitch, OD
Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs
Salus University
2023 – present Gerard O’Sullivan, PhD
2023 – 2023 ...................................... Mitchell Scheiman, OD, PhD (Interim)
2019 – 2023 ..................................................................... Barry S. Eckert, PhD
2018 – 2019 Melissa A. Vitek, OD (Interim)
2014 – 2018 Janice E. Scharre, OD, MA
2008 – 2014 Anthony F. Di Stefano, OD, MEd, MPH
Vice President of Academic Affairs
Pennsylvania College of Optometry
1989 – 2008......................................Anthony F. Di Stefano, OD, MEd, MPH
Deans
Pennsylvania College of Optometry
2024 - present......... Jeffrey L. Weaver, OD, MBA, MS (Interim)
2016 – 2024 ........................................................... Melissa E. Trego, OD, PhD
2014 – 2016 .................................................................... Lori Grover, OD, PhD
2009 – 2013 Linda Casser, OD
1989 – 2009
Anthony F. Di Stefano, OD, MEd, MPH
1979 – 1989...........................................................
1974 – 1979 .....................................................
1973 – 1974
1971 – 1973
1967 – 1969
Thomas L. Lewis, OD, PhD
Jerald W. Strickland, OD, PhD
Norman E. Wallis, OD, PhD, DSc (Hon)
Don W. Hickman, MS, PhD
Stanley S. Willing, MA, EdD
1950 – 1967 ....................................................................... Lawrence Fitch, OD
George S. Osborne College of Audiology
2016 – present Radhika Aravamudhan, PhD
2009 – 2016 Victor H. Bray, PhD
1999 – 2007 .............................. George S. Osborne, DDS, PhD, AuD (Hon)
College of Education and Rehabilitation
2019 – 2020 Barry S. Eckert, PhD (Acting)
2017 – 2019 Barbara Schwartz-Bechet, MS, EdD (Interim)
2016 – 2017.......................................................................... Jason J. Barr, PhD
2008 – 2016.................................................................... Audrey J. Smith, PhD
College of Health Sciences
2018 – 2020 Donna Agnew, MSPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA (Interim)
2008 – 2018 Lorraine Lombardi, MS, PhD (Interim)
College of Health Sciences, Education and Rehabilitation
2023 – present Lauren Sponseller, PhD, OTD, MSOTR/L, MEd, CLA
2020 – 2023
Student Affairs
James F. Konopack, PhD
2012 – present James M. Caldwell, OD, EdD
1990 – 2012 .............................................. Robert E. Horne, MS, LHD (Hon.), 1973 – 1990 John J. Crozier, OD
Research and Sponsored Programs
2017 – present Mitchell Scheiman, OD, PhD
2009 - 2012 ...................... Anthony F. Di Stefano, OD, MEd, MPH (Interim)
2007 - 2009 Felix M. Barker, II, OD, MS
Department of International and Continuing Education
2021 – 2023
Melissa A. Vitek, OD
Division of Global, Interprofessional and Specialized Programming
2023 – Present Melissa A. Vitek, OD
Commencement Marshals
James M. Caldwell, OD, EdD, Chief Marshal
John J. Fitzgerald III, DO, FACOG, Mace Bearer
Shilpi Banerjee, PhD, MBA
Christine K. McCormick, DMS, MS, PA-C
Jonette B. Owen, AUD, MHA, FNAP, CH-AP
Fabiana Perla, EdD, COMS, CLVT
Andrea Carr Tyszka, OTD, MS, OTR/L, SIPT
The Ceremonial Mace
The mace is a traditional symbol of authority dating back to the Middle Ages. The use of ceremonial maces by educational institutions began in the 17th century, when Cambridge and Oxford Universities in England adopted the mace as an emblem to be carried on ceremonial occasions. In keeping with many colleges and universities in the United States that began the tradition of ceremonial maces in the 20th century, Pennsylvania College of Optometry - the founding college of Salus University - adopted the mace in 1993 for significant ceremonies. The mace bearer traditionally precedes the president of an institution as he/ she enters or departs.
The Chain of Office
Our president wears a Chain of Office for all commencement ceremonies with the University’s official seal on the central medallion. The chain connects four smaller medallions and banners that honor the original four Colleges of the University. Additional banners are dedicated to the previous presidents of our founding college, Pennsylvania College of Optometry and Salus University.
Presented by the Alumni Association, the Chain of Office is an expression of the history and traditions of Salus University.