2023 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients
The Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia,
His Excellency Borys Gudziak
Keynote Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient
Born in 1960 in Syracuse, New York, the son of immigrants from Ukraine, Borys Gudziak
earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and biology from Syracuse University in 1980
and then studied in Rome, in the circle of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj. He received a S.T.B.
degree in theology from the Pontifical Urban University in 1983 and then returned
to the United States to pursue a doctorate in Slavic and Byzantine Cultural History
at Harvard University, which he successfully defended in 1992. In 1995, he earned
a licentiate in Eastern Christian studies from the Pontifical Oriental Institute.
Archbishop Gudziak has received numerous awards and distinctions including recognition
as a Cavalier of the Order of Legion of Honor (Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la
Légion d’honneur) in 2015, the highest decoration in France, and a recipient of the
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Award in 2016 in Wroclaw, Poland, in recognition for his work
in shaping civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.
He speaks English, Ukrainian, Italian, Polish, French, Russian and German and travels
globally with lectures and talks on theology, history, spirituality, education, society,
and current challenges in Ukraine. Archbishop Gudziak is the author of a number of
scholarly works, among them a doctoral dissertation on sixteenth-century church history,
published as Crisis and Reform: The Kyivan Metropolitanate, the Patriarchate of Constantinople,
and the Genesis of the Union of Brest (Harvard University Press, 1998), as well as numerous articles in European and North
American academic journals. He has also penned articles in popular magazines, newspapers,
commentary on political, cultural and religious affairs, position papers on academic
curricula and educational reform, and introductions to scholarly and spiritual publications.
Indra K. Nooyi, Former CEO and Chairman of PepsiCo
Honorary Degree Recipient
At PepsiCo, she was the chief architect of Performance with Purpose, the company’s
mission to deliver sustained growth by making more nutritious products, limiting the
company’s environmental footprint, and empowering its associates and people in the
communities it serves. Nooyi served as a member of the PepsiCo Board of Directors
from 2001 to February 2019, and is now a member of the board of Amazon, where she
chairs the audit committee. She sits on the supervisory board of Philips and is a
member of the nominating and corporate governance committee. She also serves on the
International Advisory Council of Temasek; is an independent director of the International
Cricket Council; and a trustee at the National Gallery of Art. She is on the Dean’s
Advisory Council at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Engineering
and serves on the boards of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Partnership
for Public Service.
Nooyi is the author of the New York Times best-selling book My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future, a memoir that offers insight and a call-to-action on how our society can blend work
and family — and advance women — in the 21st century.
She holds a B.S. from Madras Christian College, an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta and a Master of Public and Private Management from Yale University.
Mauro Porcini, PepsiCo Chief Design Officer
Introduction of Honorary Degree Recipient, Indra Nooyi
In the fall of 2022, Mauro published his first book in English, The Human Side of
Innovation. The Power of People in Love with People (Berrett-Koehler), which focuses
on innovation, design and leadership. The book was named a Gold Winner of the Better
Future – New York Design Award the month of its publication. In the spring of 2021,
he published his first book in Italian L’età dell’eccellenza – Come innovazione e
creatività possono costruire un mondo migliore (Il Saggiatore), which is now in its
fifth reprint.
Prior to joining PepsiCo, Mauro served as the first ever Chief Design Officer at 3M,
where his mission was to build and nurture a design sensitive culture in a technology
driven global corporation. His teams, based in the U.S., Italy, China and Japan, won
many of the world’s most prestigious design and innovation awards. Mauro began his
professional career at Philips Design and then created his own design firm, Wisemad
Srl, in Italy with the celebrated entertainment producer and music star Claudio Cecchetto.
His work on wearable technologies has been showcased at the Louvre in Paris as well
as the Seoul Art Center.
Over the years he has been on the board of directors for several organizations. Currently,
he is the President of the Politecnico of Milan Foundation in the United States (Fellows
of Politecnico), sits on the board of directors of the Design Management Institute,
and on the advisory council of other design, art, innovation and business institutions.
Mauro is the host of the podcast In Your Shoes - with Mauro Porcini, where he interviews inspiring personalities from the creative community worldwide.
And, for several seasons he’s been a presenter and judge on the TV show New York by Design and America by Design, airing on CBS and Amazon Prime Video.
Monsignor Gerard McCarren, Rector/Dean of Immaculate Conception Seminary School of
Theology
Introduction of Keynote Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient, His Excellency Borys
Gudziak
Monsignor McCarren’s study at CUA focused on John Henry Cardinal Newman. His doctoral
dissertation is titled “Tests” or “Notes”? A Critical Evaluation of the Criteria for Genuine Doctrinal Development
in John Henry Newman’s Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. Monsignor McCarren served on the Board of the Newman Association of America from
2001 to 2016, and served as vice president in the year 2014-2015 and as program director
for its annual conferences from 2002 to 2006 and again in 2016. He was elected an
emeritus member of the board in 2016. As Associate Professor of Systematic Theology,
he has taught such classes as Worship of the Church, Liturgical Practicum, and Sacraments
of Initiation, and is a member of the theological faculty of the Pastoral Provision.
Monsignor McCarren has given ten papers at academic conferences and has published
in Josephinum Journal of Theology, Newman Studies Journal, Seminary Theology II: Theology
and Spiritual Direction in Dialogue, and The Cambridge Companion to John Henry Newman.
He was named Spiritual Director for the Seminary effective July 1, 2004. In Spring
2005, Monsignor McCarren was named Chaplain to His Holiness. During summers, he has
served as a spiritual director and often as a teacher for the summer seminarian program
of the Institute for Priestly Formation (Omaha, Nebraska) from which he received the
Our Lady of Guadalupe Award in 2013 in acknowledgement of exemplary service to the
mission of IPF. From 2007 to 2016, he served as a Vatican appointee to the Joint Commission
for Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Methodist Council. Monsignor
McCarren served as president of the Federation of Seminary Spiritual Directors (United
States and Canada) from 2018-2022. He has long served as a weekend assistant priest
at Holy Trinity Church in Westfield, New Jersey.