As part of the grant, he traveled to the summit of Maunakea with two Le Moyne students to carry out astronomical observations, an experience that brought classroom learning into one of the world鈥檚 most powerful research environments.

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When John Greulich 鈥�26 first began working as an intern at SUNY Upstate Medical University, he admits that it was 鈥渁 bit of culture shock.鈥� Greulich was, in his words 鈥渁 business student, directly inside the environment of a hospital.鈥� He was surrounded by the realities of illness and suffering, but also by people with incredible passion and dedication to helping others heal.聽

A risk management and insurance major, Greulich analyzed supply chain processes and reviewed procurement, inventory management, and vendor data at SUNY Upstate in order to find inefficiencies and risks. He also helped its clinical engineering team by repairing and maintaining medical equipment in patient rooms to ensure it was functioning safely and correctly. He gained experience in evaluating complex systems and thinking critically about how procurement, inventory management and logistics decisions impact an organization’s overall resilience. As a result, he developed his analytical and problem-solving skills, and his capacity to communicate and collaborate with others.

鈥淭his experience helped me grow both professionally and personally,鈥� he says. 鈥淏eing in a hospital environment showed me the impact that even behind-the-scenes roles can have on patient care. It also proved to me that I am at my best and feel the most rewarded when I am helping others.鈥�

Immediately following his graduation from Le Moyne, Greulich will travel to Spain to hike the Camino Ignaciano. It is a recreation of the 400-mile journey Saint Ignatius took from his birthplace in Loyola to the site of his spiritual conversion in Manresa. The pilgrimage will provide him with ample time to think about his journey at Le Moyne and the road ahead, which will include his new role with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) Northwest. Greulich will serve as the Gonzaga Family Haven youth programs coordinator through Gonzaga University鈥檚 Center for Community Engagement. In that capacity, he will recruit and support Gonzaga students to volunteer to provide educational programming and mentorship for youth from partner schools and the Gonzaga Family Haven. He will also help coordinate youth programs and events, support volunteer training, and assist with evaluating program impact.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 excited about the opportunity to dedicate a year to service while helping to expand educational opportunities for youth and build stronger connections between the university and the surrounding community,鈥� he says.

Whether it was his most recent internship at聽 SUNY Upstate Medical University, or a previous one he held at the insurance firm McNeil and Company, or his coursework, Greulich says that the entirety of his Le Moyne education has 鈥渟haped how I see the world and my place in it”.

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“These eight individuals reflect the incredible breadth of a Le Moyne education,” said Jim Joseph 鈥�83, Ed.D. 鈥�23, vice president of advancement and innovation and executive dean of the Madden College of Business and Economics. “From local community building in the Bronx and Syracuse to international breakthroughs in economics and space-age security, our 2026 honorees prove that a Le Moyne degree is a platform for societal impact.”

2026 Honorees:

• Distinguished Alumnus: Walter L. Poland 鈥�66聽A “founding father” of Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3), Poland鈥檚 50-year career transformed international education. His efforts established partnerships with 90 universities around the world and led to the creation of the Walter and MaryAnne Poland Jesuit Center at Le Moyne.
• Ignatian Award 鈥� Professional Achievement: Kathleen Carey, Ph.D. 鈥�71聽A professor at Boston University and a nationally recognized expert in health care economics, Dr. Carey鈥檚 econometric models help shape U.S. health policy. She serves on the Massachusetts Public Health Council and is a senior investigator for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Ignatian Award 鈥� Service to Le Moyne (posthumous): Greg E. Sosa 鈥�81聽Nominated by more than 30 classmates, Sosa was the “heartbeat” of the class of 1981. For over 40 years, he served as a tireless volunteer, organizing legendary alumni gatherings from Manhattan to the Catskills, ensuring his classmates remained “forever Dolphins.”
• Ignatian Award 鈥� Community Service: Sheri (Wingate) Lyons 鈥�91聽Managing director at Goldman Sachs Ayco, Lyons balances a high-level finance career with deep devotion to the Double H Ranch and blood cancer research. A member of the Le Moyne Board of Regents, she has mentored dozens of students into successful internships.
• Ignatian Award 鈥� Daniel J. Mulhauser, S.J. Veterans Service Award: Paul W. Culligan 鈥�71聽A highly decorated Air Force pilot and retired FBI Special Agent, Culligan鈥檚 career reads like a thriller聽–聽from flying 100 combat missions in Vietnam to neutralizing Soviet spy rings. In retirement, he has repaired and donated over 1,800 bicycles and 200 scooters to children in need.
• Ignatian Award 鈥� Carl Thomas 鈥�65 Spirit Award: Antonio Reynoso 鈥�06聽As Brooklyn Borough President, Reynoso is a trailblazing advocate for maternal health and equitable urban planning. A former HEOP student, he credits his success to the mentorship he received on the Heights, embodying the spirit of his mentor Carl Thomas.
• Ignatian Award 鈥� Young Alumnus: Zacharia H. Mohamed, M.D. 鈥�16聽A former refugee from Somalia who survived civil war and homelessness, Dr. Mohamed is now a resident physician at Cooper University Health Care. His journey from the Kakuma Refugee Camp to medical school is a testament to resilience and the power of the CSTEP program.
• Ignatian Award 鈥� Honorary Alumnus: John R. Haley聽A fixture of Le Moyne student life since 1999, Assistant Dean Haley has been the architect behind 26 years of campus culture, from Dolphy Day to the Student Programming Board, shaping the lives of thousands of students behind the scenes.

The awards will be presented during Reunion Weekend 2026, which will be held from May 29 to 31.聽Learn more about the weekend here.

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Lia Rice 鈥�27 has long had a passion for both the social and natural sciences. When it came time for Rice to consider how to blend those fields, psychology seemed to be the natural choice. It is work that is deeply appealing to Rice because of its duality. While many of the things that people endure, from grief to physical pain, are universal, how we respond to them varies widely from person to person. As Rice puts it, 鈥淟earning how people can process the same thing in such different ways is fascinating to me.鈥�

A native of Camillus, New York, Rice began her undergraduate degree at another institution, but found that it was not necessarily the right fit for her. She wanted to have the opportunity to explore her interests and her place in the world in a closely knit community, one that would recognize her as a whole person. That led her to transfer to Le Moyne, where she is pursuing a major in psychology and a minor in applied statistics. Rice鈥檚 long-term aim is to earn a doctoral degree in neuropsychology and to build a career in cutting-edge research, particularly as it relates to adolescent psychology.

Under the mentorship of Associate Professor of Psychology Ezra Wegbreit, Ph.D., Rice is already studying cognition using what is known as a Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, a non-invasive, portable optical brain imaging technique. It is a tool that essentially allows her to measure how hard a person is thinking while performing certain tasks. The research Rice is conducting will serve as the foundation of her Departmental Honors thesis.

Outside of the classroom and the lab, Rice serves as the president of Le Moyne鈥檚 Student Government Association and the College鈥檚 chapter of Tau Sigma, and vice president of the College鈥檚 Psychology Club. She has served as an intern at St. Joseph鈥檚 Personalized Recovery Oriented Services, which provides care for people living with severe mental health conditions. Making the most out of their Le Moyne experience, just as she has.

Rice is confident that the combination of these experiences will leave her well prepared for a career dedicated to making a positive impact on individual lives and entire communities.
鈥淭he support I鈥檝e received at Le Moyne, and the opportunities I鈥檝e been given to learn and grow here, have proven to me that I made the right decision when I transferred to the College,鈥� she says.

鈥淚 am excited to see where this journey will continue to take me.鈥�

Every year, , the national honor society for transfer students, awards a series of scholarships to exceptional transfer students across the country in recognition of their academic achievement, involvement in their chapters, contributions to their campuses, and service to their communities. This year one of the organization鈥檚 awards was presented to a member of Le Moyne鈥檚 chapter of Tau Sigma, psychology student Lia Rice 鈥�27. A total of $100,000 in scholarships were awarded to 67 students from 57 colleges and universities across the United States.

Established in 1999 at Auburn University, Tau Sigma has grown to include approximately 225 chapters nationwide. Le Moyne鈥檚 chapter was established in 2012.

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Ellie Sommers 鈥�22 has always been passionate about math and science. Her decision聽to become a doctor truly revealed itself when she was a freshman in high school and her father, Thomas, was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. As his illness progressed, Sommers realized that she wanted to play a role in improving other people鈥檚 quality of life and healthspan as a physician. It was during her time on the Heights, where she swam competitively, that she zeroed in on the idea of specializing in orthopedic surgery. Being able to provide people with what she calls 鈥渢he gift of movement and restored function鈥� appealed to her as a person, a scientist and an athlete.

A Manlius, New York, native, Sommers will soon graduate from聽 SUNY Upstate Medical University and begin a residency at Geisinger Northeast. Looking back, she says that Le Moyne prepared her for medical school in all of the ways she expected it would. A biology major and member of the Integral Honors Program, Sommers enrolled in one challenging course after another, including Endocrine Disruptors and聽 Immunology. She availed herself of the services of the College鈥檚 Health Professions Advisory Committee and served as the president of the Pre-Health Society. However, the lessons she learned about humanity in her philosophy, religious studies and English courses have proven to be equally valuable to her, as has everything she discovered about leadership and perseverance as a swimmer.聽

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In many ways, Farr鈥檚 path to Lockheed Martin began in the fall of 2024, when Professor of Physics Stamatios Kyrkos, Ph.D., asked the students in his Quantum Mechanics class if they wanted to take part in the company鈥檚 Ethics in Engineering Case Competition. Farr learned that the competition is designed to help emerging technology professionals think carefully about the ethical implications of the decisions they鈥檒l make over the course of their professional lives, something he was also urged to do throughout his time at Le Moyne. He quickly agreed to participate. Not long after, he and his classmate Krishan Badrie 鈥�26 found themselves surrounded by teams from other colleges and universities from around the country at the Lockheed Martin Center for Leadership in Bethesda, Maryland. They were tasked with determining how to balance the use of AI and human intervention and decision making in order to determine which resources to deploy, and how to prioritize them, to improve wildfire management.

Outside of the competition, Farr and the other students had the opportunity to learn more about Lockheed Martin, testing its simulators and touring the company鈥檚 Global Vision Center. In addition, they heard directly from Michael Baylor, Lockheed Martin鈥檚 chief digital and artificial intelligence officer, who offered insight into how AI is being integrated across the company, and astronaut Sunita Williams, who joined the group remotely from the International Space Station. They also interacted with some of the company鈥檚 engineers, who were doing precisely the kind of work that Farr wanted to do. It was through a connection he made at the competition that Farr learned about an opportunity at the company鈥檚 Liverpool, New York, facility.聽

鈥淭his has been a dream job of mine for years,鈥� says Farr, who will work in radar engineering. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe any of this would have been possible if I hadn鈥檛 had a chance to go to the Lockheed Martin competition.鈥澛�

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Today Panzone is an orthopedic surgery resident at the University of Rochester, and is looking forward to building a career in hand or spine surgery. It is a path that aligns closely with the Jesuit mission to care for the whole person. As Panzone has discovered, every patient is unique and a treatment plan can look very different, even for two people facing the same diagnosis. In order to provide his patients with the best possible care, Panzone must understand precisely what they are experiencing, how their diagnosis is impacting their quality of life on a daily basis, and what their goals are for the future.聽

Or, as he puts it, 鈥淧eople are not X-rays.鈥�

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Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), will deliver the commencement address at Le Moyne College鈥檚 76th Commencement, which will be held on Saturday, May 16 at 11 a.m. in the Exposition Center at the New York State Fairgrounds. Beginning this year, Le Moyne is combining its graduate and undergraduate commencement into one ceremony.

A passionate advocate for the renewal and vitality of the Catholic Church, Kerry has championed philanthropic innovation, ethical leadership and inclusive collaboration across faith and civic communities. Named to lead Catholic Charities of USA in 2023, Robinson oversees one of the nation鈥檚 largest networks dedicated to advancing social justice, promoting human dignity and serving those most in need. Prior to her role at CCUSA, Kerry served as founding executive director and global ambassador of Leadership Roundtable, which, in the wake of the abuse crisis, fostered greater transparency, accountability and lay partnership in Church leadership. As a teenager, she joined the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities, an organization founded in 1945 by her great-grandparents, renowned philanthropists John and Helena Raskob. She has been an adviser to and trustee of more than 25 grantmaking foundations, charitable nonprofits and family philanthropies and served 15 years on the national committee for the USCCB鈥檚 Catholic Campaign for Human Development. A lifelong proponent of laity in more leadership roles in the Catholic Church, she was invited by the Vatican to advise on how to better empower and engage women leaders. In addition to being a sought-after speaker, Kerry is the author of Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy and a Spiritual Call to Service and founding editor of The Catholic Funding Guide. In 2025 she was presented with the University of Notre Dame鈥檚 2025 Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics.

Robinson is one of five individuals who will be awarded an honorary degree by the College. Others who will receive 2026 honorary doctorates are:

• Dr. Mary Lynn Collins, who launched Le Moyne鈥檚 Master of Science for Teachers and Master of Science in Education degrees in 1995 and served as chair of the College鈥檚 Education Department for 19 years. Dr. Collins began her career teaching at the elementary and secondary levels in New York state and Maryland before joining Le Moyne in 1975. During her tenure, she helped establish the foundation for Le Moyne鈥檚 modern Education programs, developing undergraduate degrees in both elementary and special education, and responding to the needs of local schools and aspiring teachers with innovative new pathways to the classroom. As president of the Faculty Senate, she championed collaboration, shared governance and academic excellence and was known for her intellect, high standards, and deep compassion, qualities that made her a trusted mentor to countless students and colleagues. She left the College in 1998 to join the Abraham S. Fischler School of Education at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where she served for 17 years as a professor of Teacher Education and Professional Development.
• An educator for nearly seven decades, William Watters, S.J., is the founder of three scholarship-supported Jesuit schools for underprivileged Baltimore City children. The three schools – St. Ignatius Loyola Academy founded in 1993, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School founded in 2007 and The Loyola School founded in 2017 – have transformed the region鈥檚 educational ecosystem. First sent to be the priest at St. Ignatius to determine whether the struggling parish should close, he instead created an education system through the church. After being involved with the three institutions for more than 30 years, in he retired as president of The Loyola School in 2024. But his legacy lives on – by his own estimation, by 2027 Father Watters anticipates the three schools will be educating 680 students 鈥渢o be men and women for others who are deeply grounded in intellectual excellence, social and moral values and religious and spiritual convictions.鈥� Earlier in his career, Father Watters taught at St. Joseph鈥檚 Prep in Philadelphia (1959 to 1962 and 1967 to 1969) and at Loyola Blakefield (1969 to 1975). Between 1975 and 1984, he was assigned as provincial assistant of Pastoral Ministries, ministering to 200 Jesuits engaged at parishes, retreat houses, hospitals and social centers. In 1985 he became pastor at Old St. Joseph鈥檚 in Philadelphia before being missioned to Benin City, Nigeria in 1989 as a pastoral assistant and acting pastor at St. Joseph鈥檚 Church, a parish with over 10,000 parishioners. While in the Nigeria, he established Joseph House and chaired a committee to initiate a plan to build Loyola Jesuit College in 1995, a Jesuit secondary school, in the Federal Capital of Abuja. Father Watters鈥� education includes a bachelor鈥檚 in speech and communications from Fordham, a Master of Religious Education from Loyola University Chicago, and an M.A. from Toronto University. Born on March 1, 1934, in Montclair, N.J., he entered the Maryland Province Society of Jesus in Wernersville, Penn. on July 30, 1952 and was ordained by Richard Cardinal Cushing in 1965.
• Wright Lassiter, III 鈥�85 is the president and chief executive officer of CommonSpirit Health, the largest Catholic hospital system and the second largest non-profit health system in the U.S. Prior to taking being named to this position in 2022, Wright previously served in leadership roles at several other health care organizations, including president and CEO of the Henry Four Health System, CEO of Alameda Health System, senior vice president of JPS Health Network and vice president of the Dallas Methodist Medical Center. In 2024, Wright and his wife Cathy’s $1 million gift established the Wright, III ’85 and Cathy Lassiter Endowed Head Men’s Basketball Coach. The gift was the first seven-figure athletic gift in College history and the first time a coaching position has been endowed at Le Moyne. During his time on the Heights, he distinguished himself as a student-athlete as a member of the men’s basketball team; he was inducted into Le Moyne Athletics Gold Wave Hall of Fame in 2014. A member of the Le Moyne College Board of Trustees from 2012 to 2021, Wright earned a degree with honors in chemistry and an MHA in healthcare administration from Indiana University Indianapolis.
• Dr. Ruth Chen, an environmental toxicologist and professor of practice at SU鈥檚 College of Engineering and Computer Science, she previously served on the faculty at the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis. As an advocate for inclusivity and a champion for underrepresented groups Dr. Chen has made substantial contributions to the advancement of academic excellence and diversity, reflecting Jesuit values by promoting social responsibility, intellectual engagement, and a commitment to the common good. Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Chen served as state toxicologist for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), responsible for risk assessment and risk management decisions. In that capacity, she received a bio-monitoring grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and simultaneously served as Certification Officer responsible for managing Tennessee鈥檚 Drinking Water Laboratory Certification Program. Dr. Chen was a staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health working on pharmacokinetics and detoxification of Tylenol. She also has served as the human health epidemiologist for the Tennessee Department of Health.

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Ferris is a research associate at the biotech firm Ichor Life Science. She joined the firm in 2022, shortly after graduating from Le Moyne. Ferris鈥� time on the Heights was informed by her experience in the classroom and on the field; she earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biochemistry and a master鈥檚 degree in business administration, and was a member of the National Championship-winning women鈥檚 lacrosse team. Now she uses the entirety of her Le Moyne experience to support Ichor in its mission of studying the mechanisms of aging and offering expert services to research and development scientists.

It is a role that allows Ferris to make the most of her dual background in science and business. No two days are the same. One afternoon she may be working with a colleague to study a protein that may eventually be used in the creation of a life-saving drug, while the next she may be communicating with one of Ichor鈥檚 clients about its needs.

Constantly learning 鈥� and being challenged 鈥� does not intimidate Ferris. She recently moved from Syracuse to Lunenburg, Germany, where, in addition to working remotely, she is in the midst of adjusting to her new surroundings, building a community and learning to speak German. She is eager to embrace whatever comes next, and to continue to draw on her Jesuit education and her experiences as a student-athlete competing at an institution that emphasizes not just achievement but culture.

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