News and Information about Kettering

Jun. 13, 2009

Commencement Photo Album

Kettering graduated 198 undergraduate and 97 master’s candidates at Commencement services Saturday, June 13 in the Connie and Jim John Recreation Center. Michael M. Wood, originally from Flint and former U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, offered the Commencement address.

 

The University recognized Wood with an honorary doctor of Humane Letters for his efforts in developing the international collaboration between Kettering, Linkoping University in Sweden and others that is currently creating a waste-to-energy bio-methane center at Flint's wastewater treatment facility. Wood told the graduates that problems are opportunities in disguise. He thanked the graduates for inspiring him with their achievements and wished them good luck.


Wood attended Flint’s Whittier Middle School.  After graduating from Yale University, he helped found the leading media company for the housing and construction industry.  His national service included organizing a housing industry round table in 1984 for U.S. President Ronald Reagan and representing the United States during the presidential inauguration in Ecuador in 2003.  In 2006, Mr. Wood was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden.

 


Tyler Finnegan of Elyria, Ohio, was the undergraduate student speaker. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Management and has accepted a full-time job at Guardian Industries and will join its leadership development program in Geneva, N.Y. In his address to his peers, Finnegan came up with the first original Reg Bell joke in many years - - saying that he would like to be as famous as Bell who has two labs and a tower named after him on campus (referring to the Bell Chemistry labs and the bell tower).

 

The Outstanding Thesis Award winner for Spring 2009 was Brian L. Dorney of Holly, Mich. He is an Applied Physics major, whose co-op was at Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Ill.  His thesis was "Hydrogen Storage by Adsorption in Polymer Materials.” His faculty adviser was Dr. Yuri Sikorski of Physics. 













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