Fairfield University Announces 2009 Graduates

FAIRFIELD, CT (06/11/2009)(readMedia)-- Fairfield University, a Jesuit institution of higher learning founded in 1942 in Fairfield, Conn. presented 1,298 diplomas at its Fifty-Ninth Commencement on Sunday, May 17, 2009. For the first time in its history, Fairfield University held a separate commencement ceremony for undergraduates in the morning and an afternoon ceremony for those receiving graduate degrees. Both ceremonies were held on the Fairfield campus.

William Derek Marshall-Riley a resident of Waltham Massachusetts , was among those who received a Bachelor of Sciencedegree during Fairfield's Commencement Exercises at which Dr. Peter Pronovost, a native of Waterbury, Conn. and a 1987 graduate of Fairfield University who was awarded a MacArthur "genius" grant this year delivered the undergraduate commencement speech. Mathy Mezey, EdD, RN, FAAN, professor and director of The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing in the New York University College of Nursing delivered the graduate commencement speech in the afternoon. William received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing

As a Jesuit University, Fairfield is rooted in one of the world's oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 36 states, 47 foreign countries, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enrolled in the University's six schools. In the spirit of rigorous and sympathetic inquiry into all dimensions of human experience, Fairfield welcomes students from diverse backgrounds to share ideas and engage in open conversations.

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