winter com mencement monterey, california saturday, december 16, 2023
MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AT MONTEREY Commencement Exercises and Conferring of Degrees
5 PROCESSIONAL
Please rise for the processional WELCOME
Jeff Dayton-Johnson Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Institute L A N D AC K N O W L E D G M E N T
Nicholas Creary Institutional Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer R E M A R KS
Laurie L. Patton Middlebury President COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
Scott Pulizzi Associate Professor Program Chair, MPA, International Trade, International Policy and Development, and Joint MPA/International Policy and Development STUDENT SPEAKER
Julian Hernandez-Webster MPA/MAIPD ’23 CONFERRING OF DEGREES
President Laurie L. Patton
P R E S E N TAT I O N O F C A N D I DAT E S F O R D E G R E E S
Laura Burian Dean of Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development C L O S I N G R E M A R KS
Vice President Jeff Dayton-Johnson RECESSIONAL
Please remain seated for the recessional RECEPTION
Please join us for a celebration at the Samson Student Center
5 P L AT F O R M PA R T Y
Laurie L. Patton Jeff Dayton-Johnson Scott Pulizzi Julian Hernandez-Webster Michelle McCauley Patricia Szasz Laura Burian GRAND MARSHAL
Katherine Punteney Professor, International Education Management FAC U LT Y M A R S H A L
Mike Gillen Faculty Senate President and Professor, Translation and Interpretation
MASTER OF ARTS IN I N T E R N AT I O N A L E D U C AT I O N M A N AG E M E N T
Rachel Bornstein* Kamala Caitlin Frazier* Helen Jiang Brandon Johnson* Kristy M. Kerin* Subira Ellen Popenoe Brandyn Justice Solano Jelana E. Szymanski* Quintessence Townsend Shuang Wang* Carly Ann Zilge*
Springfield, Oregon Edmond, Oklahoma Scarsdale, New York Seattle, Washington Wolfeboro, New Hampshire Cincinnati, Ohio New York, New York Berlin, Connecticut Sacramento, California Qingdao, China Felton, California
MASTER OF ARTS IN I N T E R N AT I O N A L E N V I R O N M E N TA L P O L I CY
Andi Franklin Abel* Arthur Lee Eschbach Karan Kunwar Lily Stephanie Tyson* Mary Zuccarello
New York, New York Winter Park, Florida Kathmandu, Nepal New Haven, Connecticut St. Louis, Missouri
MASTER OF ARTS IN I N T E R N AT I O N A L P O L I CY A N D D E V E L O P M E N T
Michael Marsh Brazinski John-Matthew Hunter Conely* Maddison Jane Fairs* Kyle Jakob Groben Christina Marie Guerrero Iao Harrowe Julian Vaughn Hernandez-Webster Thomas Schubert Stephanie Elizabeth Smittkamp Stephanie Martine Michelle Teeuwen*
Morganton, North Carolina Glen Ellen, California Uckfield, United Kingdom Pacific Grove, California Salinas, California Eugene, Oregon Edison, New Jersey Geneva, Illinois Lake Tahoe, Nevada Oegstgeest, Netherlands
MASTER OF ARTS IN I N T E R N AT I O N A L T R A D E A N D E C O N O M I C D I P L O M ACY
Robert Michael Flight Stephanie Elizabeth Smittkamp Gorden Struck* MacKenzie Sarah Van Meter
Cranleigh, United Kingdom Lake Tahoe, Nevada Dawsonville, Georgia Houston, Texas
MASTER OF ARTS IN N O N P R O L I F E R AT I O N A N D T E R R O R I S M S T U D I E S
Hideo Asano Ian Andrew Driscoll* Kojin Percy Glick Joseph Cole Hansen Landin S. Hayter Jun Ho Kang* Elza Metopishvili* Hannah Lee Ritchey*
Inashiki, Japan Los Angeles, California Berkeley, California Alameda, California Kennewick, Washington Seoul, Republic of Korea Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia Shenandoah, Iowa
M A S T E R O F A R T S I N T E AC H I N G F O R E I G N L A N G UAG E
Runpeng Zhang
Kunshan, China
MASTER OF ARTS IN T R A N S L AT I O N A N D L O C A L I Z AT I O N M A N AG E M E N T
Becca Danielle Hurley Luong
North St. Paul, Minnesota
M A S T E R O F P U B L I C A D M I N I S T R AT I O N
Iao Harrowe Julian Vaughn Hernandez-Webster Helen Jiang Deanna Murray Stephanie Martine Michelle Teeuwen* Quintessence Townsend Maria Zaharatos*
Eugene, Oregon Edison, New Jersey Scarsdale, New York Bakersfield, California Oegstgeest, Netherlands Sacramento, California Houston, Texas
B AC H E L O R O F A R T S I N I N T E R N AT I O N A L P O L I CY
Joseph Cole Hansen Deanna Murray**
Alameda, California Bakersfield, California
C E R T I F I C AT E I N T E R R O R I S M S T U D I E S
Jefferson Stamp
* With distinction ** Magna cum laude
Morgan Hill, California
F L AG S O F M A N Y H O M E L A N D S Today’s color guard represents 42 students from 8 homelands. China Japan Nepal Netherlands Republic of Georgia Republic of Korea United Kingdom United States
L A N D AC K N O W L E D G M E N T We pause to acknowledge that the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) sits in the Village of Achasta on the ancestral and unceded land of the Ohlone (Costanoan) Rumsen/Rumsien people, a Rumsen-speaking group. Several contemporary tribes, including Esselen, call this land home today. The surrounding Monterey Bay region includes lands traditionally inhabited by the Esselen (to the south), Chalon (to the south), Mutsun (to the north), and Salinan (to the east) groups. We honor these groups’ experiences in the past, present, and future, as we work collaboratively with them to protect the land and its inhabitants. Let us take a moment of silence to honor these Indigenous communities, past and present. We give thanks for the opportunity to respectfully share in the bounty of this place and are working collaboratively to protect it. We are all one in the sacred web of life that connects people, animals, plants, air, water, and earth.
FAC U LT Y C O M M E N C E M E N T S P E A K E R SCOTT PULIZZI, PROFESSOR
Associate Professor Scott Pulizzi is an accomplished international development professional who brings 25 years of experience to the classroom. He has worked with United Nations agencies, national governments, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, and businesses in dozens of countries to improve wellbeing. This includes serving as a team leader at UNESCO in Paris, a program director for the government of Botswana, a policy evaluator in Indonesia, and a junior high school English teacher in Japan. In addition to teaching at the Middlebury Institute, Dr. Pulizzi is a technical advisor to international and local civil society organizations on strategy and program development. He currently serves as director of evidence and learning for a USAID-supported program with Education Development Center, a global organization dedicated to addressing educational, health, and workforce development challenges worldwide. Dr. Pulizzi’s teaching approach is informed by the need to embrace the complexity of sustainable development. Therefore, he aims to prepare the next generation of practitioners to think systemically, challenge assumptions, see interrelationships, and break patterns. He has found that these skills are central for students to be successful program managers, project evaluators, policy analysts, and leaders of human development and social change. Dr. Pulizzi was awarded the Institute’s Faculty Excellence Award for academic year 2022–23.
STUDENT SPEAKER JULIAN HERNANDEZ-WEBSTER MPA/MAIPD ’23
Julian Hernandez-Webster graduates today with a joint degree in Master of Public Administration and Master of Arts in International Policy and Development. He was born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn and Edison, New Jersey. He graduated from Bucknell University in 2019 with bachelor’s degrees in sociology and Spanish. His undergraduate studies centered around the experiences of immigrants and other marginalized populations within the United States. He was fortunate to spend a semester abroad in Granada, Spain, which inspired his passion for advocacy, pursuit of equity, and commitment to furthering human rights. Amidst the chaos and uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Julian sought out the Middlebury Institute as a catalyst to pursue his ambitions to make an impact by improving protection and humanitarian assistance for vulnerable people. Throughout his time at MIIS, Julian has immersed himself in the community and celebrated the diversity of the student body by connecting with and learning from the array of unique backgrounds and expertise found at the Institute. He has served as a graduate assistant and advocate for social justice and looks forward to continuing work to promote human rights and dignity for migrants, particularly in the arena of human trafficking. Outside of this, Julian enjoys the cinema, spending time outdoors and at the beach, and sharing his love of soccer with those around him.
PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS O F M I D D L E B U RY C O L L E G E 2 0 2 3 – 2 0 2 4 PRESIDENT
Laurie L. Patton CHARTER TRUSTEES
Joseph W. Brown ’90 Leilani M. Brown ’93 Kirtley H. Cameron ’95 G. Parker Harris III ’89 Catherine G. Lee ’92 George C. Lee II ’88
Caroline Sneath McBride ’75 Dennis D. Parker ’77 Richard T. Scanlon ’93 Susan J. Scher ’86 Karen A. Stolley ’77 William F. Truscott ’83 TERM TRUSTEES
Belinda L. Badcock Barbara G. Cole Janine Feng ’92 Graham C. Goldsmith ’89 Lucienne M. Ide ’97 Carol L. Jones Alice Jane (A.J.) Murphy ’98
Suzanne Reider ’87 Henry J. Simonds ’97 Elizabeth Cromwell Speers ’86 Mark D. Spence ’98 John E. Waldron ’91 O. Larry Yarbrough Kashif Zafar ’92
ALUMNI TRUSTEES
Koby Altman ’04 Zachary A. Bourque ’01 Denver G. Edwards ’88
Anne Davis Peterson ’85 Shawn P. Ryan ’88 Danielle S. Virtue ’82
RECENT GRADUATE TRUSTEE
Kenshin Cho ’20
TRUSTEES EMERITI
Dort A. Cameron III ’67 James S. Davis ’66 Churchill G. Franklin ’71 Frederick M. Fritz ’68 Nancy Coffrin Furlong ’75 Claire Waterhouse Gargalli ’64 Robert C. Graham Jr. ’63 Willard T. Jackson ’51 William H. Kieffer III ’64 Roxanne McCormick Leighton ’67 John M. McCardell Jr.
C. Irving Meeker ’50 Patricia Judah Palmer ’57 Kimberly Collins Parizeau ’79 Elisabeth Robert ’78 Frank W. Sesno ’77 Deborah G. Thomas ’75 John R. Tormondsen ’82 J. Edward Virtue ’82 Marna C. Whittington Linda Foster Whitton ’80 Kendrick R. Wilson III
M I D D L E B U RY I N S T I T U T E B OA R D O F A DV I S O R S 2 0 2 3 – 2 0 2 4 TRUSTEES
Catherine G. Lee ’92, Chair Lucienne M. Ide ’97, Vice Chair Kirtley H. Cameron ’95 G. Parker Harris III ’89 George C. Lee II ’88 Caroline Sneath McBride ’75 Henry J. Simonds ’97 Karen A. Stolley ’77 EMERITI
Churchill G. Franklin ’71 Frederick M. Fritz ’68 William H. Kieffer III ’64 Kimberly Collins Parizeau ’79 Frank W. Sesno ’77 PA R T N E R S
Alison Geballe Deborah Hicks Elaine White Gómez MAIPS ’93 Michael C. Rawding ’86 Rich Wolfson CONSTITUENTS
Landry Dohou Bi Sharad Joshi Jill Stoffers MACD ’00
A FEW NOTES G R A D UAT I O N W I T H H O N O R S
Undergraduate students completing all degree requirements with a record of high academic achievement are awarded traditional Latin honors: cum laude (3.50–3.74), magna cum laude (3.75–3.89), and summa cum laude (3.9–4.0). Master’s degree recipients completing with a cumulative GPA of 4.00 graduate with distinction. Recipients of summa cum laude and distinction honors are awarded honors cords. COMMENCEMENT RECEPTION
The Middlebury Institute has a long tradition of sustainable practices and innovative initiatives. In 2015, we adopted a policy of featuring at least 50 percent plant-based food at all official Institute events where food is served. In that spirit, and in an effort to meet our sustainability policy goals, we are proud to serve 100 percent plant-based foods at today’s Commencement reception. PHOTOS
For safety reasons, please remain in your seats during the ceremony. We have arranged for a photographer to take photos as each graduate crosses the stage. Photos can be viewed and downloaded within a week after the event at go.miis.edu/gradphotosdec23. AC K N O W L E D G M E N T
Special thanks to Professor Mike Gillen for playing the bagpipes leading the processional.
SUPPORTING THE MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE A N N UA L F U N D
We are grateful to the generous alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends who support the many facets of an Institute education by donating to the Annual Fund. Your contributions allow future students the opportunity to pursue their dreams and lead purposeful lives. Visit go.miis.edu/give to learn more about how to make a gift. G A M A L I E L PA I N T E R ’ S C A N E
Gamaliel Painter’s cane is one of the most treasured artifacts of the College. Once the walking stick of the founder of both the town of Middlebury and the College, today it is carried by the president in the Commencement ceremony. It serves as a symbol of institutional strength and character.
M I D D L E B U RY I N S T I T U T E O F I N T E R N AT I O N A L S T U D I E S The Middlebury Institute of International Studies educates professionals to advance understanding, promote peace, and drive change in pursuit of a more just world. The Institute’s 650 students come from more than 45 countries, joining a faculty and global network of alumni who are actively addressing some of the most critical issues of our time—including climate change, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation. Through a range of both in-person and online degree programs, students build critical in-demand skills in public policy, intercultural communication, mixed-methods and open-source data analysis and research, leadership and administration, education and language translation, and interpretation and localization. The Institute is also home to a wide range of research centers and initiatives, including the renowned James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, the Center for the Blue Economy, and the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, as well as the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies. Founded in 1955, the Institute became affiliated with Middlebury College in 2005 and was fully integrated as a graduate school of Middlebury in 2010. Middlebury is anchored by the undergraduate College in Vermont, which was founded in 1800 and has long been recognized as one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the country. Today Middlebury is also a graduate school for international studies; a home for immersive language study; a graduate school for the study of literature, literacy, and pedagogy; a leader of schools abroad sites that span the globe; and a home for the oldest and most prestigious writers’ conference in the world. Middlebury is an institution that prepares students to address the world’s most challenging problems, and it does so by engaging them in the life of the mind and soul.