Dr. Tom Morris, well-known business speaker and author, will address graduates at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington on Saturday, May 19. A native North Carolinian, Dr. Morris is chair of the Morris Institute for Human Values in Wilmington.
This graduation marks the first time in the university's history that there will be two separate ceremonies to accommodate the growing numbers of graduates. The ceremonies will take place at 9:30 a.m. for the College of Arts and Sciences and 2:30 p.m. for the professional schools, (Cameron School of Business, School of Nursing, and Watson School of Education). Dr. Morris will speak at both ceremonies.
Some 1,249 students are expected to receive their degrees, 1,076 undergraduates and 173 master's. The morning session will have 755 graduates, of whom 665 are undergraduates and 90 are master's candidates. The afternoon ceremony will have 494 graduates, of whom 411 are undergraduates and 83 are master's candidates. The ceremonies will be broadcast live by UNCW-TV on the Learning Channel of the Cape Fear over TimeWarner Cable Channel 5.
Dr. Morris, a well-known public philosopher and adviser to the corporate world, has spoken to groups such as General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Merrill Lynch, GTE, IBM, NBC Sports and the U.S. Air Force.
Dr. Morris, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, holds Ph.D. degrees in Philosophy and Religious Studies from Yale University. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame for 15 years.
"Dr. Morris has a combination of experiences in academics and real-world corporate consulting," said Dr. John Cavanaugh, provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs. "There have not been very many people that have been in both sides and been very successful at it." According to Dr. Cavanaugh, the university has asked him to speak at commencement before, but Dr. Morris has had other obligations.
"He is extremely dynamic and has taken ideas from great thinkers and packaged them into ideas for meeting today's challenges," said Dr. Stephen Harper, professor of management and marketing at UNCW's Cameron School of Business. "He has been very successful in utilizing his academic training and experience to enlighten some of today's corporate leaders."
Dr. Morris has appeared in network television commercials as a national spokesman for Winnie the Pooh and Disney Home Videos. He has made television appearances on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee," CNBC's "Business Today" and the NBC "Today Show" with Matt Lauer.
Dr. Morris has authored several books, such as "True Success: A New Philosophy of Excellence," "If Aristotle Ran General Motors: The New Soul of Business" and "Philosophy for Dummies."
For more information, contact Phillip Brown at 910/962-7223 or [email protected].
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