May 17, 2015
The Class of 2015 received their diplomas during the College's 122nd Commencement on May 17, 2015, on Marston Quad. At the ceremony, Michael Dickerson '01, Andrew Hoyem '57, Judge Stephen Reinhardt '51, and France Córdova spoke and received honorary degrees from the College. Cordóva was the main Commencement speaker. Please see their bios and speech links below.
In addition, President Oxtoby provided a Charge to the Class of 2015, and Senior Class President Deborah Frempong '15 and Senior Class Speaker Cameron Cook '15 spoke. The Pomona College Glee Club also performed.
France Córdova
France Córdova is the 14th director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), leading the only government science agency charged with advancing all fields of scientific discovery, technological innovation, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. She is president emerita of Purdue University, where she was president from 2007 to 2012. For the previous five years, she led the University of California, Riverside, as chancellor and was a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy.
France Córdova's speech [video].
Michael Dickerson '01
Michael Dickerson '01 is the administrator of the newly created U.S. Digital Service in the White House Office of Management and Budget, a team of digital specialists working across government to remove barriers to the effective delivery of digital services. Prior to accepting this appointment, he worked as a site reliability engineer and manager at Google from 2006 to 2014. In both 2008 and 2012, he took brief hiatuses to work for the Obama presidential campaigns. In 2013, Dickerson took a leave of absence from his work at Google to join the ad hoc team that was taking on the emergency task of overhauling the Healthcare.gov website. His leadership in turning around HealthCare.gov landed him and his team on the cover of TIME magazine.
Andrew Hoyem '57
Andrew Hoyem '57 began his career in 1961 as a fine printer and publisher in San Francisco with Auerhahn Press, which issued books by Beat Generation writers. From 1966 to 1973, he was in partnership with Robert Grabhorn of Grabhorn Press. In 1974, he changed the name of the company to Arion Press, where he has assembled an unusually complete letterpress printing operation, which includes a bindery and the last fully functioning type foundry in the United States. At Arion Press, he has published over 100 works of literature in deluxe limited editions, many including original prints by contemporary artists. He is also a published poet and exhibited artist.
Stephen Reinhardt '51
Stephen Reinhardt '51, a graduate of Yale Law School, was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Carter in 1980. Prior to his appointment, he was a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Fogel, Julber, Reinhardt, Rothschild & Feldman, where he specialized in the practice of labor law. He served as president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, president of the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission, secretary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, and a member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Amateur Athletic Foundation, which administers the 1984 Olympics surplus. He is the author of many law review articles and has delivered speeches at numerous law schools, including Yale, Harvard and Stanford.