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Congresswoman, NHL executive, genetics scientist to be honored at SLU commencement Sunday

Posted 5/19/16

CANTON -- St. Lawrence University’s Commencement will take place at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 22, on Creasy Commencement Common, or in Appleton Arena in the event of inclement weather. Students, …

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Congresswoman, NHL executive, genetics scientist to be honored at SLU commencement Sunday

Posted

CANTON -- St. Lawrence University’s Commencement will take place at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 22, on Creasy Commencement Common, or in Appleton Arena in the event of inclement weather.

Students, faculty, staff and guests will hear remarks from three SLU graduates who will be receiving honorary degrees – a congresswoman, a retired national Hockey League team executive, and a Cornell scientist -- and an honoree with a University Citation.

Congresswoman Katherine Clark, an SLU alumna serving as a U.S. representative from Massachusetts, has also been a state senator, state representative, general counsel of the Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services, and policy chief for the state attorney general. She is a strong proponent in the belief that Congress must work to end the glaring disconnect between the needs of families at home and the priorities in Washington, D.C.

William “Bill” Torrey, a 1957 graduate of SLU, is the retired president and general manager of the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers pro hockey teams. He is credited for building the New York Islanders from a National Hockey League expansion team during the 1972-73 season to Stanley Cup champions in just eight seasons. Under Torrey’s charge, the Islanders made five consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, winning four Cups in a row beginning in 1980. In 1993, with the new NHL expansion team Florida Panthers, the team set an NHL record for first-year teams 33 wins and 83 points. In three years, the Panthers went to the Stanley Cup Finals, quicker than any other expansion team. In 1983, he received the NHL’s Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to the hockey community, and in 1995 he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Charles “Chip” Aquadro, who graduated fro SLU in 1975, is a professor of population genetics and director of Cornell University’s Center for Comparative and Population Genomics. His undergraduate and graduate courses cover population genetics and comparative genomics, and personal genomics and medicine. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Aquadro has served as scientific advisor to public television science programs.

John Gaal, retiring legal counsel for St. Lawrence University, will receive the 2016 University Citation. For more than 30 years, Gaal, of the Syracuse law firm Bond, Schoneck and King, has advised and represented St. Lawrence University in union contract negotiations, employee discipline and termination, student discipline, discrimination and harassment policies (including Title IX) and governance, among other areas of expertise. University Citations are offered occasionally to individuals who provide extraordinary service to the University.

For more information, visit www.stlawu.edu/commencement.