Persevere, be authentic, remain flexible and make a difference in the world, speakers told the Class of 2025 at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s undergraduate commencement.
Kevin O’Toole, chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, had the ultimate praise for NJIT’s Class of 2025.
“(The graduates) are not just job-ready; they’re mission-ready,” he said. “They’re problem-solvers. They’re innovators.”
O’Toole, the co-name founder of the law firm O’Toole Scrivo who served as one of the keynote speakers, said the graduates have the qualities that the world is looking for.
“They’re people who roll up their sleeves and get things done,” he said. “And they’re the ones we need at the table solving our country’s problems.”
The message to be authentic, remain flexible and make a difference in the world was heard through the commencement last week at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Jennifer Taubert, worldwide chairman of innovative medicine at Johnson & Johnson and another of the honorary degree recipients, told the more than 1,400 undergraduates to be prepared to do great things.
“Your STEM education from this terrific university can take you so many places,” she said. “If you focus on having impact in an area that you love, it will be so much more rewarding than simply a position or a title.”
Taubert, who also serves on the Board of Directors of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, underscored the importance of adhering to personal values, positivity and teamwork.
“Seek out and work with people who are smarter than you, who have different experiences and perspectives,” she said. “It’ll spark creativity and innovation; ensure you continue to be positively challenged and will drive continued learning.”
Student speaker Marina Samuel, a biomedical engineering major and president of the Student Senate, echoed that sentiment in words that were wise beyond her years.
“Leadership isn’t about the title,” she said. “It’s about listening, showing up and leaving things a little better than you found them.”
All of this rang true for NJIT President Teik Lim.
“Use your talents to pursue goals that will lift others and improve our world,” he said. “That is how you lead a life of consequence and of value.”
O’Toole, who served two decades in the New Jersey Legislature as a senator and assemblyman, is an embodiment of continued learning is.
His closing message was direct and from the heart: Make people’s lives better.
“From this day forward, you’ll be asked to transform science and math into stuff that makes people’s lives better,” he said. “There can’t be a more noble calling than that.”
