President Schrader tells graduating students that touching lives will be their legacy

Wright State University President Cheryl B. Schrader told graduating students at fall commencement that acts of kindness can be a powerful world-changing force.

Wright State University President Cheryl B. Schrader told graduating students at fall commencement that acts of kindness can be a powerful world-changing force and that the graduates’ legacy will be every life that they touch.

Schrader addressed several thousand students, their family members and friends during commencement at the Wright State Nutter Center on Saturday, Dec. 15.

“Class of 2018, I know that you will touch lives and make our world a better place,” said Schrader. “I’ve seen your commitment to helping others, your passion for our campus and community. I’ve witnessed your creative and innovative minds at work.”

See our 2018 fall graduation photo gallery >>

Schrader invoked the words of Oprah Winfrey in telling the students they have the ability to comfort and strengthen others through acts of kindness.

“Remember that kindness, compassion and empathy will always triumph over hatred, intolerance and ignorance,” Schrader said.

The president told the students that their Wright State education gives them the perfect launching pad for future success.

“Along with receiving a top-quality education, you’ve participated in experiential learning, engaged in innovative research, studied abroad to expand your horizons and given back through community service,” she said.

Schrader said she knows the students will make their mark on the world.

“Class of 2018,” she said, “you give me hope — hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a world in which we can put our differences aside and celebrate the commonalities that unite us all.”

Nearly 1,700 students graduated during the ceremony. The class of 2018 includes graduates with 1,010 bachelor’s degrees, 602 master’s, 54 doctorates of philosophy, as well as those awarded associate degrees and post-master’s certificates.

The class features graduates from 54 Ohio counties, including 1,461 from the 16 counties anchored by Wright State’s Dayton and Lake campuses. Graduates hail from a total of 28 states.

The class also includes 221 international students from 24 different nations. India boasts the largest number of foreign graduates with 107.

The graduating students from the class range in age from 18 to 68.

Graduates by college:

• College of Education and Human Services: 280
• College of Engineering and Computer Science: 338
• College of Liberal Arts: 240
• College of Nursing and Health: 133
• College of Science and Mathematics: 201
• Raj Soin College of Business: 373
• Lake Campus: 31

Notable class of 2018 graduates

Jenna Coulombe, a crime and justice studies major, received the Liberal Arts Leadership Scholarship in recognition of her leadership activities.

Jenna Coulombe

Coulombe will receive her bachelor’s degree in crime and justice studies. The single mother from Centerville is an outstanding student, carrying a 3.9 grade point average.

Coulombe is a recipient of the Liberal Arts Leadership Scholarship, a premier scholarship awarded by the College of Liberal Arts to students engaged in leadership activities.

Coulombe is past president of Developing Personal Vision, a student organization that helps students on campus with their life goals. She has interned at the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office and the Women’s Therapeutic Court in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, where she conducted presentations covering information about drug addiction and rehabilitation. She is currently interning at the Federal Building in U.S. Pretrial Services and was just offered a position as a pre-sentence investigation and bond report writer with the Warren County Common Pleas Court.

After graduation, Coulombe will pursue her master’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her career goals are to work in environmental law or U.S. prison reform.

Research by Marquise Crosby, a biochemistry and molecular biology major, was published in Science, a top academic journal.

Marquise Crosby

Crosby, who will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, co-authored a paper that was published in one of the world’s top academic journals.

Crosby’s research, which involved the expression of a protein, was part of a paper published by Science, a high-impact, peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The paper was titled “Random heteropolymers preserve protein function in foreign environments.”

In addition to his studies, Crosby worked as a lab assistant at Wright-Patterson in The Biomaterials Group of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate. The directorate develops materials, processes and advanced manufacturing technologies for aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, rockets and ground-based systems and their structural, electronic and optical components.

Crosby spent his early years in Oakland, California, moving to Dayton when he was 9. He was drawn to chemistry and his senior high school project involved trying to extract biofuels from algae.

After graduating from Wright State, Crosby hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology.

Shashank Reddy Goli, who will graduate with a master’s in industrial and human factors engineering, works for Tesla as a process engineer in manufacturing operations.

Shashank Reddy Goli

Goli, who will receive his master’s degree in industrial and human factors engineering, works for Tesla as a process engineer in manufacturing operations.

Goli landed an internship with the company in the summer of 2017 and worked for the Lean Manufacturing and Operational Excellence team at the electric-car company’s manufacturing facility in Fremont, California. His job was to find better workflows, conveyance, inventory management and optimize processes throughout the factory to achieve maximum output. Tesla has had some recent financial struggles, but hit its production targets in June and turned a profit in October.

Goli grew up in Hyderabad, India. His father, GLN Reddy, works for the Indian Railways as a senior section engineer. His mother, Janaki, a Hindi scholar with a master of arts degree, taught high school and ran her own business.

Reddy’s curiosity drew him to learn how machines interacted with human resources and material to produce finished goods. Then he wanted to learn ways to design integrated systems that optimized resources, supply chain management and ergonomics while maintaining profits. That led him to the study of industrial and human factors engineering.