May 1, 2017
Rita J. King, Futurist, Entrepreneur, Writer and Specialist in Applied Imagination, is the Keynote Speaker
Hackettstown, N.J., May 1, 2017 – Centenary University will hold its 142nd Commencement at 1 p.m. on May 13, 2017 on the front lawn of the Edward W. Seay Administration Building. Rita J. King, Futurist, Entrepreneur, Writer and Specialist in Applied Imagination, is this year’s keynote speaker and will address Centenary’s 391 graduates.
Rita J. King is the co-director of Science House, a cathedral of the imagination in Manhattan where she helps teams and organizations identify and achieve their desired future state. She served as a futurist at NASA Langley’s think tank, and she is currently a futurist at the Science and Entertainment Exchange of the National Academy of Sciences, where she invents novel story architecture, characters, technologies and landscapes for major film and TV projects.
The Imagination Age is a framework for navigating between two ways of thinking – being and working. She created this framework to help people and teams transition from industrial era workstyles and habits into the intelligence era. Treasure of the Sirens is a company she founded that produces items inspired by the sea and sirens who were the world’s first futurists.
Features by or about Rita J. King will have appeared in major media globally, including The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Al Jazeera, TIME, CNN, Fox News, NPR, the BBC, the Christian Science Monitor, The Village Voice, Forbes, Fast Company, Design Observer, and many more.
“I am so pleased that our graduates will have the opportunity to be inspired by Rita J. King and that we will bestow her with the degree of Doctor of Applied Imagination this year,” says Dr. David P. Haney, Centenary University President. “This Commencement is my first as University President, so this graduating class is special to me. I wish all of the graduates much success in their future professional and academic endeavors. I urge them to visit their alma mater and stay connected with their professors and peers.”
The graduating class will include undergraduate and graduate students from the main campus in Hackettstown and the Centenary University School of Professional Studies learning centers in Parsippany and Edison. The students who will be earning their graduate degrees will also participate in Centenary’s first annual hooding ceremony on May 12, 2017. Centenary University’s President, Dr. David P. Haney, will serve as the keynote speaker. In addition, Mary Jo Harris, Coalition Coordinator for Healthy and Safe Communities at the Family Guidance Center of Warren County, will receive the Dominick V. Romano Award for her involvement in local community service on May 13th.
Founded in 1867 by the Newark Conference of the United Methodist Church, Centenary University’s academic program integrates a solid liberal arts foundation with a strong career orientation. This mix is designed to provide an educational experience that prepares students to succeed in the increasingly global and interdependent world.
Centenary University’s main campus is located in Hackettstown, N.J., with its equestrian facility in Washington Township (Morris County). The Centenary University School of Professional Studies offers degree programs in two locations: Parsippany and Edison, online and at corporate sites throughout New Jersey. The School of International Programs recruits international students for study at Centenary and Centenary students for study abroad opportunities.
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