The University of Vermont will award honorary degrees at the May ceremony to John E. Abele, Frank A. Bolden, J. Brooks Buxton, and Karen Nystrom Meyer. The 2018 commencement speaker, celebrated humanities scholar Alexander Nemerov, received a Doctor of Letters, honoris causa during 2017 commencement ceremonies.
John E. Abele, retired founding chairman of Boston Scientific, has radically changed the culture of medicine, developing some of the first-to-market devices to treat life-damaging conditions of the heart, brain, lungs, and body systems. After co-founding medical devices company Medi-tech in 1969 with its first product—steerable catheters as alternatives to traditional surgery—Mr. Abele started Boston Scientific in 1979 to acquire Medi-tech and significantly expand the vision of bringing non-invasive medical options to market. Today, Boston Scientific offers more than 13,000 products affecting the health and lives of over 26 million people each year worldwide, including such well-known innovations as the angioplasty dilation balloon and stent. Since retiring from Boston Scientific in 2005, Mr. Abele devotes himself to helping build change-the-world businesses and organizations in his second career as a philanthropist, venture capitalist, and professional tinkerer. Current projects include a “sniffer” device to identify infections in plants and humans and a medical device using magnetics to treat depression. Through the Argosy Foundation, Mr. Abele and his family have granted over $100 million to nonprofits to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration, reflecting his lifelong interest in helping groups of people to become “collectively intelligent.” The Argosy Foundation is a lead supporter of FIRST, the nonprofit behind FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST Robotics Competition, and FIRST Lego League—programs that introduce students to science and engineering thinking through collaborative play and problem solving. Mr. Abele encouraged UVM to host the FIRST Tech Challenge in Vermont, in 2013; Vermont now enters several teams from across the state to national Tech Challenges. He is also a founder and primary supporter of the Champlain Mini Maker Faire. Mr. Abele serves as an advisory board member to the UVM College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. He will be awarded a Doctor of Science, honoris causa.
Frank A. Bolden, University of Vermont Class of 1963 and member of the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame, is an alumnus exemplar of UVM’s student-athlete model. A four-year letterwinner in football, he balanced academic work and devotion to the UVM Catamounts with service as a residence-hall counselor and an ROTC cadet. After graduation, Mr. Bolden served in the United States Army as an Airborne Ranger Infantry Officer. In 1969, he entered Columbia University, graduating with Masters of Business Administration and Juris Doctorate degrees in 1972. Practicing corporate law at Johnson & Johnson, he was promoted to secretary in 1984 and vice-president in 1987, and in 2000 he was named Vice President, Diversity Worldwide. Mr. Bolden brought this corporate leadership and global diversity experience to the University of Vermont Board of Trustees in 1994, where he served on several committees; as chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2000 he was a strong voice for building diversity at UVM. Mr. Bolden also served on the UVM Medical Dean’s Advisory Board, the advisory committee for the UVM School of Business, and the New York Regional Alumni Board. He is currently a member of the UVM Foundation Leadership Council. Mr. Bolden received the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2002. As a supporter of education, the arts, and quality health care, Mr. Bolden has served numerous universities, nonprofits, and state advisory boards in the northeast. He currently chairs the national board of directors for the United Church of Christ, the ecumenical Protestant denomination emphasizing social justice, human rights, and global ministry. Mr. Bolden will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.
J. Brooks Buxton, University of Vermont Class of 1956, exemplifies the dedication to learning that the University of Vermont endeavors to instill in all its students. Living and working throughout the Middle East as well as in London, Mr. Buxton developed a deep appreciation for the aesthetics of the region. He retired from Conoco Phillips in 2003 as president of Conoco Arabia Inc., Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and director of Conoco Middle East Ltd., London and Dubai. His collection of Orientalist paintings, Islamic art, and 19th-century photography of the Middle East and North Africa is perhaps unrivaled by any other private Vermont collection. Since retiring to his native Vermont in 2003, Mr. Buxton has focused on assembling an extensive collection of paintings depicting the agricultural and architectural landscape of Vermont from the 18th to 20th century, considered to be the most extensive artistic representation of Vermont’s agricultural and pastoral heritage in existence. Mr. Buxton currently chairs the Board of Advisors at the Fleming Museum of Art. He also serves as a trustee at the Shelburne Museum, the Vermont Historical Society, and other august Vermont nonprofits. He is a retired advisor of the University of Vermont College of Engineering; the Middle East Center for Arabic Studies in Oxford, England; and the H.R.H. Prince Salman Center for Disability Research in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, among others. A founding member of the UVM Foundation Board of Directors, he currently serves as a member of the Foundation Leadership Council. Mr. Buxton will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.
Karen Nystrom Meyer, University of Vermont Class of 1970, has devoted her decades-long career to advancing policy and practice in essential matters of the commons. Ms. Meyer joined Governor Madeleine Kunin’s administration in 1985 as Commissioner of Housing and Community Affairs, where she worked to improve community planning and increase affordable housing for Vermonters. She was instrumental in the founding of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, which has become a national model. In 1988, Ms. Meyer was appointed Executive Vice President of the Vermont Medical Society, the first woman to be named as chief executive of a state medical society, where she helped found a leading-edge statewide program for health care improvement. In 2001, Ms. Meyer joined the University of Vermont senior leadership team; the following year she was named Vice President for State, Federal, and Community Relations. She served the University of Vermont as a trustee from 1998 to 2001, was a founding member of the UVM Foundation Board of Directors, and currently serves as a member of the Foundation Leadership Council and the National Campaign Executive Council. Ms. Meyer has leveraged her extensive leadership and strategic planning expertise in service to nonprofit and corporate boards throughout the state. Ms. Meyer has won national and world dragon boat championships. She and her team—all cancer survivors—competed in this ancient sport both on Lake Champlain and in races around the world. Ms. Meyer will be awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.
Celebrated humanities scholar Alexander Nemerov, University of Vermont Class of 1985, brings an explorer’s mind and a perceptive voice to his close readings of American visual art and cultural history, opening pathways of personal meaning for his students, colleagues, and readers. Professor Nemerov graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts in art history and English. After earning his doctorate in art history from Yale University in 1992, he began teaching at Stanford University. In 2001 he returned to his graduate school alma mater, where his class “Introduction to Western Art” grew to attract one of the largest enrollments of any undergraduate class at Yale. In 2012, Professor Nemerov accepted the position of Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor in the Arts and Humanities at Stanford University. His classes are some of the largest humanities classes at the university. Both graduate and undergraduate students praise him as an enthusiastic teacher whose meditations on visual art develop in them a deeper way of seeing. Over the course of his career, Professor Nemerov has published eight highly regarded books and authored more than thirty articles and essays for peer-reviewed journals. In spring of 2017, he gave the 66th annual Andrew W. Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery of Art, becoming the first speaker in the history of the series to speak on American art. Leading his audiences to a rich understanding of American culture through intuitive analysis and appreciation of aesthetic expressions across a wide range of genres, Professor Nemerov’s work encourages us to look for those connections ourselves. His teaching, writing, and curating reflect a profound belief in the enduring importance of the arts and humanities to a thoughtful, authentic, and deeply moving life. Professor Nemerov was awarded a Doctor of Letters, honoris causa during the University of Vermont’s 2017 commencement ceremonies.
The University Commencement Main Ceremony will take place on the University Green on Sunday, May 20, 2018.
Source: UVM News