Graduation Weekend 1998

Wharton doctoral grads honor Schieber In a soft voice, Gerrity urged the intimate group seated at tables to "pause and have a moment of reflection at the tragic loss to her friends, to her family and to this community." Schieber, 23, was finishing her first year studying insurance in Wharton's doctoral program. Described by friends and colleagues as intelligent and vivacious, the Chevy Chase, Md., native had graduated from Duke University in 1995 with three majors. As of last evening, police still had not made any arrests surrounding the incident, which occurred in the early-morning hours of May 7. About 20 Wharton doctoral students received their diplomas at the ceremony, which was held Sunday evening in the University Museum's Upper Egyptian Gallery. -- Scott Lanman Candle maker lights up MBA ceremony No other candle maker can, well, hold a candle to Blyth Industries Inc. And it follows that there's no one better to explain to Wharton MBA students how Blyth Industries -- which had earnings of $54.6 million on revenue of $687.5 million in 1997 -- got to the top of the wax heap than Robert Goergen, who took over the then-small company in 1977 and built it up to what it is now. Goergen, Blyth Industries' 59-year-old chairperson, president and chief executive officer, gave tips for budding entrepreneurs to the 866 recipients of master of business administration degrees during a ceremony Sunday afternoon at Franklin Field. "For me, entrepreneurship is a state of mind rather than a specific action," said Goergen, who is worth $490 million, according to a recent estimate on Forbes magazine's World Wide Web site. "It's having vision, leadership skills, being self-sufficient and disciplined. But it also means being patient." Goergen earned his MBA from Wharton in 1962. In June 1997, he gave the school $10 million to establish the Goergen Entrepreneurial Management Program. Under Goergen's leadership, Greenwich, Conn.-based Blyth Industries -- which has 3,000 employees -- went from being a $3 million regional maker of candles to a relative giant with a foothold in thousands of department stores and specialty shops. In addition to candles -- many of them scented -- Blyth Industries makes fragrances for the home and car, as well as gift bags. In his 15-minute speech, Goergen also stressed the importance of having someone close to you who comprehends what you're getting into. "While [I'm] not trying to be a marriage counselor, an understanding spouse or significant other cannot be understated," he said, citing his own experience. -- S.L. Former dean speaks to Nursing graduates The School of Nursing welcomed home its former dean Sunday afternoon as the keynote speaker for the graduation exercises of its graduate and undergraduate divisions. Claire Fagin -- who was the interim University president from 1993 to 1994 -- had served as Nursing dean for 14 years prior to her appointment as University's chief executive. She was the first woman to hold the top post in Penn's history. Michelle Whittle, a graduating Nursing senior and recipient of the Dean's Award, gave the introductory remarks for the ceremony, which was held in the University Museum's Harrison Auditorium. Whittle pointed out two things all the graduates share, despite differences in age and place: a common profession and a common education. She called the ceremony "a celebration of our diversity and our commonalities." When Fagin took the podium, she urged graduates to fight for change, noting that nurses can make a difference -- even when opposed by seemingly more powerful doctors and administrators. "We cannot allow ourselves to be passive observers," Fagin said. "We are the life-line for our patients and their families." -- Ginny Dorsey Nobel-winning alum addresses new M.D.s Amidst kilt-clad Scottish bagpipers and an address punctuated by a guitar-strumming rendition of "My Way," 130 Medical School graduates took the Hippocratic Oath and joined the ranks of the medical profession Sunday. The ceremony, held at the Philadelphia Marriott in Center City, featured a graduate address from Francis Collins -- director of the effort to map all human DNA by 2005 -- and a distinguished alumni address from 1997 Nobel Prize Winner Stanley Prusiner. Both received honorary degrees at commencement the next morning. Prusiner's award cited his discovery of prions -- a class of proteins that are the infectious agent in mad cow disease and several human neurodegenerative disorders. Penn was among the first institutions to recognize Prusiner for his highly controversial research when it gave him the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1991. On Sunday, Prusiner -- a 1964 College and 1968 Medical School alumnus -- returned again to share the story of his battle for legitimacy. The message, said Prusiner, is that one should be able to look back 25 years down the road and still believe you've made the right life choices. But it was Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who brought the crowd to its feet with his "My Way" rendition, a tribute to the recently deceased Frank Sinatra. The song highlighted a talk emphasizing the value of fun as one of the "food groups for the future." William Kelley, dean of the Medical School, and Gail Morrison, vice dean for education, conducted the ceremony and conferred the degrees. -- Binyamin Appelbaum Deans 'engineer' final undergraduate event With three of the University's four undergraduate schools holding their individual graduation ceremonies prior to the University-wide commencement, only the Engineering school remained for Monday afternoon. Both undergraduate and master's Engineering students received their degrees in the Palestra directly following Commencement.The ceremony and reception for doctoral candidates was held on Sunday. Engineering Dean Gregory Farrington welcomed the graduates and their guests and concluded his brief remarks by urging students to "go out and revolutionize the world." Undergraduate Dean John Vohs then addressed the class, noting how the class of 1998 has inspired him in his first year as associate dean. Director of Faculty Advising John Keenan then conferred the undergraduate degrees by major. And finally, Graduate Dean Dwight Jaggard spoke to the graduate student in attendance and conferred degrees upon them, adding a touch of humor to a dragging ceremony. "I feel like Zsa Zsa Gabor's fifth husband," Jaggard said. "I know what's expected of me, but I'm just not sure if I can make it interesting." -- G.D.