Clarkson U Awards Doctorate to NSBE’s Director
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NSBE Executive Director Carl B. Mack (left) receives an honorary doctorate from Clarkson University President Anthony G. Collins, Ph.D.
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Long known within the NSBE family as “Brother E.D.,” NSBE Executive Director Carl B. Mack gained another moniker to accompany his many achievements, when the Board of Trustees of Clarkson University presented him with an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Dr. Mack received the degree during Clarkson’s commencement ceremony, in Potsdam, N.Y., in May.
“Clarkson awards honorary degrees each year to a very limited number of individuals whose achievements deserve special recognition by the higher education community,” says Clarkson President Anthony G. Collins, Ph.D., formerly a professor of civil engineering at the school. “We feel that the honorary degree is more than mere academic symbolism. A Clarkson honorary degree is awarded in the belief that graduates should share their commencement with outstanding individuals who, by their accomplishments, have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, service, scholarship and citizenship.”
Following Clarkson’s tradition, Mack and the other honorary degree recipients addressed the university’s 2010 graduates during commencement. During his address, Mack emphasized the importance of challenge and passion to achievement.
“The history of our great nation is filled with the accomplishments of great men and women, all with a common denominator: opportunity,” Mack said. “…Clara Barton is considered great because she had the opportunity to deal with the misfortune of others and founded the American Red Cross…. And now you, the graduating class of 2010, have the opportunity for greatness” by taking on the many challenges of today, including global warming, the growing economic gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots,’ an exploding prison population, immigration, racism and others, Mack continued.
“I don’t contend that any of these opportunities are easy. Thus, you must approach the rest of your life with a passion as you face your opportunity,” he said.
“I am extremely honored and humbled to receive this degree,” Mack says. “However, much of the credit should go to our NSBE chapter members at Clarkson. Their great work in carrying out NSBE’s mission on campus, through their incredibly successful freshmen engineering retention programs and other activities, has reflected well not only on me but on our entire Society.”
More information about NSBE’s Clarkson University Chapter is available online at http://people.clarkson.edu/~nsbe/ and in the “Chapter News” section of NSBE Magazine’s Winter 2009–10 issue.
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