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Press Release: Pace University Announces Commencement Speakers and Honorary Degree Recipients: Leaders in Government, Media, Philanthropy and Law Enforcement
Press Release: Pace University Announces Commencement Speakers and Honorary Degree Recipients: Leaders in Government, Media, Philanthropy and Law Enforcement
Speakers: Secretary of State of New York Rossana Rosado; former Chairman and CEO of Home Box Office Richard Plepler; Assemblymember Deborah Glick; NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker
Influential leaders in government, media, philanthropy and law enforcement will address graduates and receive honorary degrees at this year’s four commencement ceremonies at Pace University. More than 2,400 students will walk in the Pace ceremonies at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels this year.
In New York City, Richard Plepler, former Chairman and CEO of Home Box Office (HBO), will address undergraduates. Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick will address graduates. Both undergraduate and graduate ceremonies are at the iconic Radio City Music Hall.
In Westchester, New York Police Department (NYPD) first deputy commissioner, Benjamin B. Tucker and philanthropist and environmental advocate Liliane Haub, will address law school graduates in White Plains and Secretary of State of New York, Rossana Rosado will address graduates at Pace’s Pleasantville campus.
The details of the four ceremonies are as follows:
Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
WHEN: Monday, May 13 at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Pace Law School, 78 North Broadway, White Plains, NY
SPEAKER: Benjamin B. Tucker, First Deputy Commissioner, NYPD
SPEAKER: Liliane Haub, philanthropist and environmental advocate
Westchester Campus Undergraduate Ceremony
WHEN: Monday, May 20 at 11 a.m.
WHERE: 861 Bedford Road, Ann and Alfred Goldstein Health and Fitness Center, entrance 3, Pleasantville, NY
SPEAKER: Rossana Rosado, Secretary of State of New York
New York City Undergraduate Ceremony
WHEN: Thursday, May 23 at 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY
SPEAKER: Richard Plepler, former Chairman and CEO of Home Box Office
Graduate Degree Ceremony
WHEN: Thursday, May 23 at 4 p.m.
WHERE: Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY
SPEAKER: Deborah J. Glick, Assemblymember
Biographies of Speakers and Honorary Degree Recipients:
Pace Law School
Benjamin B. Tucker, First Deputy Commissioner, NYPD
Degree: Doctor of Laws
Benjamin B. Tucker JD, NYPD First Deputy Commissioner, is this year’s speaker and honorary degree recipient for Pace’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law.
Benjamin B. Tucker began his career with the New York City Police Department in 1969 as a Police Trainee. As one of a select group of trainees he received specialized training from medical and substance abuse experts to participate in the first NYPD sponsored school-based drug prevention education program. Tucker became a Police Officer in 1972 and was promoted to Sergeant in 1987. During his 22 years with the NYPD, Tucker performed a wide range of uniform and plain clothes assignments, as well as police academy instructor, legal advisor in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters; and Assistant Director of the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
Tucker continued his public service as a senior executive under Mayor Edward I. Koch, Tucker served as the Deputy Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services in the Mayor’s Office of Operations, First Deputy Commissioner and Executive Director of the Commission on Human Rights, Chief of Operations in the Office of the Manhattan Borough President, and Chief Executive for School Safety and Planning for the Department of Education.
In 1995, President William Jefferson Clinton appointed Tucker Deputy Director for Operations in the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the United States Department of Justice. In 2009, Tucker was nominated by President Barack H. Obama, and confirmed by the United States Senate, as the Deputy Director for State, Local and Tribal Affairs within the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Prior to joining the Justice Department Tucker implemented and directed research demonstration projects at the Substance Abuse Strategy Initiative at New York University and the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. These projects were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of post incarceration services for formerly incarcerated substance abusers re-entering society and the provision of services for pre-adolescents at-risk of getting involved in drugs and crime.
His unique blend of law enforcement, criminal justice policy expertise and academic experience led to Tucker’s return to the NYPD as Deputy Commissioner of Training during Police Commissioner William J. Bratton’s reengineering of the Department in 2014. Proving to be a valued member of the executive staff, Tucker was sworn in as the 43rd First Deputy Commissioner and entrusted to direct several bureaus, including Personnel, Training, Criminal Justice, Risk Management, Department Advocate, Trials, and Labor Relations.
Tucker earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, and Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law while working as a police officer, and is a tenured professor at Pace University.
Liliane A. Haub, Philanthropist and Environmental Advocate
Degree: Doctor of Laws
Liliane A. Haub is an honorary degree recipient for Pace’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law. Haub carries on the Haub family’s long-time commitment to the environment and sustainability. She serves on the boards of several nonprofits including the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming; Wyoming; College Board of Advisors at Georgetown University; the Tacoma Art Museum; American Prairie Reserve in Montana, biggest private conservation effort in continental United States; Pace University; and the Steering Committee of the School of Forestry, Yale University.
Haub has been on the board of the Elizabeth Haub Foundation for Environmental Law and Diplomacy, USA and Canada, which was founded by the Haub family. She has worked as a cataloger for Impressionist and Modern Art at Habsburg- Feldman in Geneva, Switzerland and New York. She attended the Sotheby’s Works of Art Course in London and European Management Academy in Vienna, Austria. She has an extensive background and training in art and is an enthusiastic art collector. Her passion for the outdoors has led her run the New York City Marathon multiple times to raise funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Together with her husband she raises bison on the family ranch in Wyoming.
In 2016, the Haub family presented the University with a transformative gift and celebrated the renaming of its law school to the Elisabeth Haub School of Law. Elisabeth Haub was an environmental activist and the grandmother of Liliane’s husband, Christian Haub.
Westchester Undergraduate Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients:
Honorable Rossana Rosado, Secretary of State of New York
Degree: Doctor of Humane Letters
Secretary Rossana Rosado was appointed New York State Secretary of State on February 3, 2016 and unanimously confirmed by the State Senate on June 15, 2016.
Secretary Rosado served as Publisher and CEO of El Diario La Prensa for 18 years, overseeing more than $22 million in annual revenue. In the editorial pages, she advocated for women’s empowerment, re-entry and reintegration of individuals returning to society from prison, fairer and more humane immigration policies and many other issues affecting New Yorkers. Through her leadership and voice, she established the paper as a leading entity for social and economic justice. During her 30-year media career, Secretary Rosado earned an Emmy Award, a STAR Award from the NY Women's Agenda, and a Peabody Award for Journalism.
As Secretary of State, Rossana Rosado has led the department through a modern restructuring, including the implementation of innovative local government and professional licensing programs and dynamic economic development initiatives. The Secretary has also ushered in improvements in services for immigrant New Yorkers through the Office of New Americans and Governor Cuomo’s Liberty Defense Project, which is a public-private initiative to bring critical legal services to immigrants, regardless of status.
Secretary Rosado has been personally involved in issues with respect to prisoner re-entry. She co-chairs Governor Cuomo's Council on Community Re-entry and Reintegration of New Yorkers returning from prison. Secretary Rosado also served on Governor David Paterson's Task Force on Juvenile Justice and taught at Sing Sing and Otisville Correctional Facilities in New York State.
A native New Yorker, Secretary Rosado received her B.A. in Journalism from Pace University.
New York City Undergraduate Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient:
Richard Plepler, former Chairman and CEO of Home Box Office
Degree: Doctor of Humane Letters
Richard Plepler was Chairman and CEO of Home Box Office, Inc., a position he held from 2013 - 2019. A brand known for excellence, HBO curates over 3000 hours of content on its platforms, including original series, documentaries, HBO Films, and HBO Sports. Under Plepler’s leadership, HBO experienced its largest growth in company history while continuing to raise the bar with some of the most innovative, honored, and critically-acclaimed programming on television. Plepler led the creation of the company’s standalone streaming service, HBO NOW®, which launched with Apple in March 2015. Today, the service represents over 20% of HBO’s subscription revenue and is now a major source of revenue for the company. Under his leadership, HBO was recognized with 165 Emmy Awards® with wins in all major categories and 9 Golden Globe Awards®.
As Co-President from 2007 to 2012, Plepler greenlit some of HBO’s most successful series including Emmy® Award-winners Game of Thrones, Girls, and Veep as well as True Blood, Boardwalk Empire and The Newsroom. Notably, Game of Thrones, HBO’s most viewed series ever, continues to hold the record for the most Emmy Awards® ever won by a scripted series with a lifetime total of 47 Emmys®.
Starting at HBO in 1992, Plepler was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2002 and Co-President in 2007. Plepler has received numerous accolades during his career, including being inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame by The Cable Center (2018) and Broadcasting and Cable magazine’s Hall of Fame (2013); named Media Person of the Year by The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (2014); earned the Directorate Emmy Award® for his impact on the industry from the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (2015); the prestigious Driver of Change Award at the FT ArcelorMittel Boldness in Business Awards (2015); and the Variety Vanguard Award for contribution to the TV business (2017).
Plepler serves on the Board of Directors for the Council on Foreign Relations and on the National Advisory Board of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.
Plepler lives in New York with his wife Lisa and daughter Eden.
Graduate Degree Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient:
Honorable Deborah J. Glick, Assemblymember
Degree: Doctor of Humane Letters
New York City Ceremonies
Deborah J. Glick, a lifelong resident of New York City, has lived in Greenwich Village for over 40 years. Elected as the first openly lesbian or gay member of the New York State legislature, Deborah has a decades-long track record of advocating on issues of concern to women and the LGBTQ community.
In addition to sponsoring landmark legislation ensuring reproductive rights for women, she has been a strong advocate for marriage equality, environmental conservation, animal rights, transit safety and accessibility, tenants’ rights, support for higher education, and funding for the arts.
Glick’s recent legislative victories include her work as the lead sponsor of the Reproductive Health Act, which updated New York’s antiquated abortion laws in a number of critical ways by essentially codifying Roe vs. Wade into state law. She also saw passage of a ban on so-called “conversion therapy,” a dangerous and discredited pseudo-scientific method for altering one’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity through such techniques as electro-shock therapy and aversion conditioning. Additionally, in the 2019 Legislative Session, her School Zone Speed Camera Bill passed, which will ensure that children, their caregivers, and school staff are protected against the dangers of speeding motorists as they travel to and from New York City’s elementary schools.
Glick serves as the Assembly’s Chair of the Higher Education Committee, and on the Ways and Means, Rules, Governmental Operations and Environmental Conservation Committees.
Glick received a Master of Business Administration degree from Fordham University, and owned and managed a small printing business in TriBeCa before becoming Deputy Director of General Services at the City Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development, where she worked until May 1990.
About Pace University: Pace University has a proud history of preparing its diverse student body for a lifetime of professional success as a result of its unique program that combines rigorous academics and real-world experiences. Pace is ranked the #1 private, four-year college in the nation for upward economic mobility by Harvard University’s Opportunity Insights, evidence of the transformative education the University provides.
From its beginnings as an accounting school in 1906, Pace has grown to three campuses, enrolling 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in more than 150 majors and programs, across a range of disciplines: arts, sciences, business, health care, technology, law, education, and more. The university also has one of the most competitive performing arts programs in the country. Pace has a signature, newly renovated campus in New York City, located in the heart of vibrant Lower Manhattan, next to Wall Street and City Hall, and two campuses in Westchester County, New York: a 200-acre picturesque Pleasantville Campus and a Law School in White Plains. www.pace.edu
