NASA Chief Will Deliver Keynote
Goldin to Speak At Commencement
By Shankar MukherjiASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
Daniel S. Goldin, head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has been selected to deliver the keynote address at MIT’s 135th Commencement on June 8.
Goldin, the longest serving NASA Administrator in the agency’s history, has revolutionized the nation’s space program through his much-touted “faster, better, cheaper” approach in the face of declining budgets.
A graduate of the City College of New York, Goldin is no stranger to MIT. The administrator was on campus last October to present a packed audience with his visions of the future of space travel.
Student leaders support decision
Class of 2001 President Erick N. Tseng voiced his enthusiasm that Goldin will address his fellow seniors.
“I think it’s a great choice,” he said.
Commenting on selecting a government leader after a two year layover, Tseng noted that “following [last year’s commencement speaker Carleton Fiorina] a ceremony with another industry leader would be repetitive.”
Graduate Student Council President Soulaymane Kachani echoed Tseng’s optimism about the decision to invite Goldin.
“The NASA Administrator is a great speaker and a great person,” said Kachani.
“Goldin’s selection is a wonderful result of our search for possible speakers at commencement,” he continued.
Process includes student input
The process by which commencement speakers are elected is a mixture of student input and committee action, with President Charles M. Vest making the ultimate decision.
As GSC President, it was Kachani’s responsibility to cull a list of 10 names of possible speakers based on surveys distributed to graduate students across the Institute. The list was then combined with a similar list of 10 names, proposed by the Class of 2001, and formally submitted to the Commencement Committee.
After hours of discussion and debate, the Committee selected a final list of 10 names and sent it to President Vest. Vest was not available for comment.
“We were very pleased with the kind of feedback we got from the senior class via e-mail,” said Tseng.
“The students wanted someone who could communicate something constructive and useful, while having some sort of relationship with their future,” he continued.
When asked about other candidates in the running, however, both Kachani and Tseng refused to comment.
“It was made very clear to us,” said Kachani, “that we were bound to secrecy and were not allowed to discuss other names on the list.”
MIT has drawn variety of speakers
The last government official to address Institute graduates was President William J. Clinton, who spoke in 1998 with famed AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho.
Following the duo of Clinton and Ho were MIT’s own Magliozzi brothers, Tom and Ray, who host National Public Radio’s popular show Car Talk.
Last year Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Carelton Fiorina, a graduate of the Sloan School of Management, offered her pearls of wisdom to the members of the Class of 2000.
Goldin longest-serving NASA chief
Daniel Goldin, who will take his place with the likes of Clinton, Vice President Albert Gore, and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan ’72 as keynote speakers at MIT’s Commencement exercises, has built a solid reputation in both industry and government. A 25 year veteran of TRW Space and Technology Group, Goldin was appointed to head NASA by Republican President George Bush in 1992 and has subsequently stayed on throughout Democratic Bill Clinton’s eight year term. On March 5, Goldin surpassed James Fletcher as the longest serving of all of NASA’s chiefs.
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