University of Redlands
Dear University Community,
Commencement is the University’s most anticipated event of the year because it is the time when we celebrate the success of our students and affirm our excellent accomplishments as an educational institution. Commencement Weekend is quickly approaching, and I am excited to confirm that we will celebrate the Class of 2022 in person on April 22-23, 2022, in the Alumni Greek Theatre. I hope many of you will attend to celebrate our graduates and honorary degree recipients and hear from this year’s accomplished speakers.
Dr. Jill Tiefenthaler will deliver the keynote address at the College of Arts and Sciences ceremony on Saturday, April 23. As the chief executive officer at the National Geographic Society (NGS), Dr. Tiefenthaler oversees the development and implementation of NGS’s mission-driven work. She leads a global community of NGS Explorers—scientists, innovators, educators, and storytellers—in its mission to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Dr. Tiefenthaler sits on the NGS’s Board of Trustees and the board of National Geographic Partners.
Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad will deliver the keynote address at the School of Education ceremony on Friday, April 22. Dr. Muhammad is an associate professor of literacy, language, and culture at the University of Illinois at Chicago who studies Black historical excellence within educational communities with the goal of reframing curriculum and instruction today. She authored the best-selling book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Model for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. She also co-authored Black Girls’ Literacies: Transforming Lives and Literacy Practices.
Dr. Terri Horton will deliver the keynote address at the School of Business & Society ceremony on Saturday, April 23. Dr. Horton is a workforce futurist and founder of FuturePath, LLC. Her expertise sits at the intersection of the future of work, artificial intelligence, and the impact on business and people strategies. A widely recognized thought leader and subject-matter expert, she has provided strategic insights for the Pew Research Center, Forbes, and the Obama Foundation Scholars Program. She is the author of Force Majeure: A Futurist’s Guide to Boldly Thriving on Your Terms in the Future of Work.
Also, on Saturday, April 23, two Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees will be conferred to these outstanding champions of education.
Alice Mozley ’70, recently honored as a Life Trustee for the University of Redlands, credits her U of R years with empowering her to become a lifelong learner who seeks new opportunities. During her career, Mozley was one of the few women at Magnavox Research Laboratories, where she worked on the design and development of GPS. She later negotiated contracts for the Hubble Space Telescope’s sunshield at Lockheed Missiles & Space. As the highest-ranking woman at the Times Mirror Company, she was also one of the few female senior executives at a Fortune 100 company. She retired in 1993. Her many accomplishments at Redlands include serving on the search committees for two presidents and a dean and serving as chair for the launch of the recently completed Forever Yours campaign.
Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president for government relations and public affairs at the American Council on Education (ACE), has spent his professional career at the intersection of higher education and the federal government. For the last 30 years, he has worked from his position at ACE to organize and lead the higher education community’s efforts to establish and maintain government policies that will benefit colleges and universities and their students. Most recently, Hartle and his team designed and led the successful effort to secure federal government support to help institutions and their students during the pandemic.
I hope to see many of you as we celebrate our students and these honorary degree recipients, understanding that each of you contributed to their success.
Sincerely,
Krista Newkirk
President
