Coons, Strine to speak
Sen. Chris Coons, Chief Justice Leo Strine to be Lerner College Convocation speakers
11:27 a.m., May 11, 2016--U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr. of the Delaware Supreme Court will be this year’s Convocation speakers at the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.
Coons will speak at the Lerner Graduate Convocation in Mitchell Hall on Friday, May 27, at 4:30 p.m.
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Strine will speak at the Lerner College’s Undergraduate Convocation ceremonies at the Bob Carpenter Center on Saturday, May 28, at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
At 9 a.m. on Saturday, Bryan Stevenson, author and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, will be the University’s Commencement speaker in Delaware Stadium.
“I look forward to hearing both Sen. Coons and Chief Justice Strine’s words to Lerner’s newest graduates,” said Dean Bruce Weber of the Lerner College.
U.S. Sen. Coons
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to deliver the graduate Convocation address at Lerner this year,” Coons said. “Exactly 100 years ago, the University of Delaware began offering undergraduate courses in business administration, and in the century since, UD’s commitment to training graduate and undergraduate students in the art of business has only grown.”
“While I hope I can share some of what I’ve learned with these soon-to-be graduates, I’m even more excited to learn from them and hear their stories,” he continued. “In the years to come, I look forward to seeing what the creative minds from Lerner do in Delaware, across our country, and around the world.”
Weber said that the Lerner College is fortunate to have Delaware’s U.S. senator addressing the graduate school class this year.
“Sen. Coons has been a strong advocate for the state’s economy and champions the contributions of the University’s programs and its innovative research, in particular around alternative energy,” Weber said. “He has national stature, and the Class of 2016 is assured of hearing compelling reflections and advice during his address.”
A native of Hockessin, Delaware, Coons graduated from Amherst College, Yale Divinity School and Yale Law School, then began his political career as president of the New Castle County Council. Coons then served as the New Castle’s county executive before becoming Delaware’s junior senator in 2010.
Chief Justice Strine
“For the past year and a half the Delaware Courts and the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics have had a close working relationship as part of our process improvement initiative, so when Dean Weber extended his gracious invitation to address the college’s graduates, I was glad to accept,” Strine said.
“Our nation's vitality depends on the ability of our business sector to create jobs and wealth in a sustainable, responsible way, and I welcome this chance to speak to the business leaders of our future."
Weber added that under Strine’s leadership, the process improvement initiative partnership has led to 19 completed MIS and operations projects and saved more than 4,250 staff hours.
“Chief Justice Strine presides over the highest profile cases in business law,” Weber said, “and Lerner undergraduates will have a chance to learn from his valuable perspective.”
In 1985, Strine received his bachelor of arts summa cum laude in political science from UD. After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1988, he served on Delaware’s internationally influential business court, the Court of Chancery, until 2014.
Since 2014, Strine has served as the chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.