NYIT Announces 2006 Commencement Honorary Degree Recipients
Old Westbury, N.Y., May 4, 2006: New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) President Edward Guiliano, Ph.D., announced today the honorary degree recipients who will be conferred at the college’s 45th annual commencement ceremony on May 21, 2006, at its Old Westbury, N.Y., campus.
NYIT will bestow an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts to David M. Childs, FAIA, consulting design partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to Don Cooper, Chicago White Sox pitching coach, and Linda G. Davila (B.S. ’78), C.F.M., chair of NYIT’s Board of Trustees and vice president at Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Group.
Childs’ major completed projects include the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle, adjacent to NYIT’s Manhattan campus; the 1976 Washington Mall master plan and Constitution Gardens in Washington, D.C.; the JFK International Arrivals Building in New York City; the Bear Stearns Headquarters in New York City; the United States Embassy in Ottawa, Canada; and more than 3 million square feet of mixed-use development for Mitsui in Tokyo, Japan. Under construction are his designs for the new 7 World Trade Center and the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site in New York City.
Cooper is in his third full season as the pitching coach of the Chicago White Sox, the 2005 World Series champions, though he has been with the organization for 19 seasons. Cooper pitched for the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees over four major-league seasons. As a student at NYIT, Cooper played for the Bears from 1974 through 1978. He was named East Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 1978 and was inducted into the NYIT Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
Davila joined the NYIT Board of Trustees in 1989. Since 1990, she served as vice chair until her election as chair in May 2004. A graduate of NYIT, Davila is working with the president and fellow board members to develop innovative business models to pursue opportunities for global strategic alliances. She also serves as vice president for wealth management at Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Group, specializing in financial risk management for high-net-worth individuals and non-profit organizations.
NYIT is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, and former students Cooper and Davila are being honored in their own right, but are also symbolic of 50 years of outstanding student achievement at the college.
NYIT’s commencement ceremony will be broadcast live on the college’s official Web site www.nyit.edu beginning at 9:30 a.m. EST (click on the “Commencement Ceremony” link). For additional information or questions regarding the commencement ceremony, please call 516.686.1177 or e-mail events@nyit.edu.
About NYIT
NYIT is the college of choice for more than 14,000 students currently enrolled in more than 100 courses of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees from eight schools, including engineering, architecture, business, communication arts and medicine. A private, independent college, NYIT embraces an educational philosophy of career-oriented, professional education for all qualified students and supports applications-oriented research to benefit the greater global community. Students attend classes at NYIT’s Manhattan and Long Island campuses, as well as online and in a number of programs throughout the world. To date, more than 66,000 alumni have earned degrees at NYIT. For additional information, visit www.nyit.edu.
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