TACOMA, Wash. – Scott Jackson ’80, vice president of PATH, an international nonprofit organization that has won major accolades for its work in global health, will deliver the Class of 2010 Commencement address at University of Puget Sound. Jackson will also be presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in recognition of his more than 20 years of exemplary work in global health and humanitarian initiatives.
The Puget Sound graduation ceremony will be held from 2 to 4:30 p.m., Sunday, May 16, at Baker Stadium on campus. Jackson will address the topic of global citizenship in a speech titled “The Millennial Generation’s Call to Action.”
Katherine Rader ’10 (Albuquerque, N.M.), a politics and government major who participates in the Symphony and String orchestras, will be the student Commencement speaker. Kendra Iringan ’10 (Centennial, Colo), a studio art major and co-president of the Native American Student Association, will be the student speaker at Academic Convocation on Saturday. Mark Reinitz, professor of psychology, will give the faculty address at Convocation. The public and the press are welcome to attend both Commencement and Academic Convocation.
Commencement speaker Scott Jackson graduated from University of Puget Sound 30 years ago and went on to pursue a career on the international stage with global health partners and benefactors. As PATH’s vice president of external relations, Jackson is responsible for maximizing the visibility of the group’s work through communications, advocacy, and fundraising efforts. PATH (originally Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) is one of the largest global health nonprofit organizations in the world, with active work in more than 70 countries.
The organization has an annual budget of more than $250 million to pursue its vision of ensuring that good health is within the reach of everyone. In 2009 it was honored with the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, which, at $1.5 million, is the world’s largest humanitarian award. For five years in a row, Fast Company magazine has named PATH as one of the top social entrepreneurs “that are changing the world.”
“Scott Jackson’s personal and professional commitment to transforming the world into a more humane and healthy place through creative collaboration and technological innovation instills hope in us all,” said University of Puget Sound President Ronald R. Thomas. “He will undoubtedly deliver a memorable message to our graduates that will inspire them as much as he was inspired by his experience here thirty years ago.”
The event will have a special significance for both Jackson and the college. Thirty years ago Jackson’s father, the Rev. Jefferson Jackson, then minister of the Little Brown Church of Blyn, was the baccalaureate speaker at the campus chapel’s Sunday morning service on graduation day. A native of Sequim, Wash., the younger Jackson majored in history at University of Puget Sound and served as president of the student governing body. He was a Fred S. Wyatt Scholar elected to Phi Kappa Phi and the Mortar Board national honor society. After graduation Jackson became a Rotary International Ambassador Scholar, earned a Master of Business Administration at The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and completed a program in organizational development at Harvard Business School.
Prior to joining PATH in 2006, Jackson was senior vice president at World Vision U.S. in Federal Way, where he led as many as 200 employees in building community partnerships. During that time he oversaw the HIV/AIDS advocacy and fundraising “Hope Initiative” tour to 18 cities across the United States. Jackson is an active member of Rotary International and serves on several national boards, including Global Impact. He was a founding member of the management committee for ONE, a grassroots advocacy group co-founded by the musician Bono to fight against poverty and preventable disease.
Jackson continued to contribute to the future of Puget Sound as a member of the Puget Sound Associates and Business Board of Visitors, as an annual fund class agent and mentor in the Business Leadership Program, and as a participant in the Rogers Chair International Trade Colloquium in 1990.
As an independent national liberal arts college, Puget Sound seeks Commencement speakers who exemplify the college’s mission to encourage a rich knowledge of self and others; an appreciation of commonality and difference; the full, open, and civil discussion of ideas; thoughtful moral discourse; and the integration of learning with the preparation of graduates to meet the highest tests of democratic citizenship. In pursuing this mission, Puget Sound seeks to liberate each person's fullest intellectual and human potential and to assist in the unfolding of creative and useful lives.
The commencement weekend events, in part, will include:
Saturday, May 15
2–3 p.m. Academic Convocation
Schneebeck Concert Hall
Sunday, May 16
1 p.m. Graduate and faculty lineup and walk across campus
G.E. Karlen Quadrangle, behind Jones Hall
2–4:30 p.m. Commencement Ceremony
Baker Stadium. The stadium opens for seating at noon. No tickets required.
4:30 p.m. Commencement Reception
Memorial Fieldhouse
For more details about Commencement Weekend: https://www.pugetsound.edu/commencement
For directions and a map of the campus: www.pugetsound.edu/directions.xml
A press-quality photo of Scott Jackson can be downloaded from: Press Photos - University of Puget Sound.
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