Commencement Faculty 2023
Faculty participation is vital to the success of commencement. Your presence at the ceremony means a great deal to our graduates.
ALL faculty should report to the gym on commencement morning by 8 a.m. The faculty lounge will be located in the gymnasium and will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The lounge will offer regalia pick-up and drop-off, breakfast and lunch, and nearby restrooms. Lunch will be served after the school graduation ceremonies. Please arrive early and allow yourself time to park.
All faculty (including College of Osteopathic Medicine faculty), librarians, and members of the staff and administration who require regalia will be able to wear their own school regalia on commencement day. New York Institute of Technology gowns will be available as well. However, there is a limited amount of gowns in inventory. Gowns will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis.
For more information, please email the Commencement Team at commencement@nyit.edu or 516.686.1177.
Parking
Parking on campus is limited. Faculty members may park in lots adjacent to Riland/Rockefeller, Harry Schure Hall, Gerry House, and Salten Hall lots if they arrive early enough. All faculty members MUST display a white FACULTY PARKING PERMIT that will be provided to them on their dashboard in order to access these lots. Faculty who arrive after the campus parking lots are filled will be re-directed to the LIU campus and will be transported via shuttle bus to the main tent.
In the event of bad weather, please plan accordingly as you will be processing into the main tent from the SAC Gym.
Please be advised that all campus offices and buildings will be locked on May 21 except for the Student Activity Center and Sports Complex. Faculty will not be able to access their offices or any buildings; accordingly, if you have your own regalia, please bring it with you on May 21.
Learn important information about commencement day including directions, parking info, our bag policy, and more.
More About Commencement DayContact Us
Questions? Email the Commencement Team at commencement@nyit.edu.
Honorary Degree Recipients
Eli Wachtel (B.S. ’72)
Co-CIO and Founding Member of Wachtel Capital LLC
Eli Wachtel is currently the co-CIO and founding member of Wachtel Capital LLC, a hedge fund primarily engaged in classical arbitrage and opportunistically seeking investments in the private capital markets. Until August 2008, Wachtel was a senior managing director and a member of the Board of Directors of Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. (BSC). During his 27 years with BSC, he created and managed various businesses, focusing his final four years on building the firm’s energy franchise.
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Under his leadership, the BSC Energy Division began with proprietary investments and trading. He expanded its activities in 2004, with the creation of Arroyo, a private equity arm, to purchase power generation assets. In 2005, he formed a joint venture with Calpine to exploit physical trading opportunities in power and natural gas, and in 2006, he formed Bear Energy, a full-fledged international energy operation with a current head count of 260 professionals. Realized and unrealized revenues during his tenure exceeded $1.35 billion.
Concurrent with his energy activities, Wachtel also headed the firm’s Strategic Structuring and Transactions (SST) department, a principal proprietary trading group engaging in classical and statistical arbitrage activities in the global capital markets. The department was also a firmwide resource for new product development and structuring. During his 10-plus years as the head of SST, the department generated $850 million in revenues and never had a losing quarter. During his tenure with the firm, Wachtel also managed the International Equities Trading department, handing it over after a tenfold increase in revenues. Other contributions included the creation and oversight of a group to assist the Private Client Services department, transforming their activities to a fee-based business. Prior to joining BSC, Wachtel was the trading partner at Bedford Partners.
Wachtel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from New York Institute of Technology and is also a Certified Public Accountant. He has four grown children and six grandchildren. He has been active on a variety of charitable boards, including his alma mater and New York Law School, where he was co-chairman of its investment committee. Besides work, Wachtel’s passion is art.
Antonio C. Bianco, M.D., Ph.D
Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago
Antonio Bianco is a physician-scientist and a writer working in the thyroid field. He obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. in Human Physiology in São Paulo, Brazil, and later immigrated to the United States where he maintains a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded laboratory. Together with his graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and collaborators, Bianco has published in the area of thyroid hormone metabolism and action, with implications for the treatment of patients with hypothyroidism.
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His research career has focused on how T3 (triiodothyronine) initiates or terminates critical biological steps while maintaining relatively stable plasma levels. Bianco’s work has been recognized with numerous awards and elections to membership in prestigious professional societies. He served as a regular member of NIH study sections and the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and also served in different administrative capacities such as chief of endocrinology at the University of Miami and Rush University, where he also served as president of the medical practice. Bianco was elected and served as president of the American Thyroid Association in 2016.