Boston College

In a June 17 keynote speech opening a two-day conference titled “The Holy See and Israel: The Diplomacy of Engagement,” Mordechay Lewy, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See, discussed the consequences of the May visit to Israel by Pope Benedict XVI. Addressing more than 100 academics, graduate students, and representatives of the Archdiocese and Boston’s Jewish community, Lewy characterized the Pope’s trip as a success, noting Benedict’s words at the national Holocaust memorial museum Yad Vashem, where the German pontiff declared that the millions of Jews who perished in the Nazi genocide “lost their lives, but they will never lose their names.” Referring to that affirmation of the power of name and memory as well as other papal reflections, Ambassador Lewy said, “Pope Benedict’s statements during the visit will nourish our [Israeli-Vatican] future relations for a long time,” and the diplomat added that that the Israeli people hold Benedict “in high esteem as very friendly towards Jews.” Above, seated in Gasson 100 are (front row, from left) James Bernauer, SJ, director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning, which sponsored the event; Lewy; Robert Stern, secretary general of the Catholic Near Eastern Welfare Association; and Eugene Fisher, former director of the secretariat for ecumenical and interreligious affairs of the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops.

To gain a participant’s perspective, @BC asked four graduating seniors—Patrick Bittorf of the Lynch School of Education, Lindsay Paladino of the Carroll School of Management, Brittney Sullivan of the Connell School of Nursing, and Kyle Trainor of the College of Arts & Sciences—to film their experiences as they went through Commencement Day, May 18. We present highlights from their videos.

Some 3,000 degree recipients assembled on the field of Alumni Stadium for Boston College’s 133rd Commencement. “You have made Boston College better, stronger, more alive,” President William P. Leahy, SJ, told them. Filmmaker Ken Burns, recipient of an honorary doctorate in fine arts, delivered the Commencement address, advising students, “History, I have learned over 30 years of practice, is the greatest teacher there is.” The University also awarded honorary degrees to Margot C. Connell, board chair of the Connell Limited Partnership; Joseph E. Corcoran ’59, a pioneer in the development of mixed-income housing; Daniel J. Harrington, SJ, eminent scholar of the Bible; Carolyn A. Lynch, a founder of the Lynch Foundation and the Urban Catholic Teachers Corps; and Benaree Pratt Wiley, president and CEO (emeritus) of The Partnership, Inc., and a University Trustee Associate. The full onstage proceedings, including Burns’s address, are available online at the Commencement Day website.

Summary of degrees:

The Law School Commencement took place May 22, with Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke delivering the address. Some 252 graduates received their JD degree, 12 received the LLM.

On June 7, Boston College hosted the eighth “Vision 5K Run and Walk,” which was created by Joseph Quintanilla ’98 to focus attention on the visually impaired. Competitive runners, joggers, and weekend walkers—many of them visually impaired—participate in the annual event, which has raised more than $1 million for training programs and new technologies that enable visually-impaired individuals to lead independent lives. “It’s great to return to campus for the Vision 5K,” said Quintanilla, who is director of development at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts. “It is not only a beautiful location, but also a great match because of the school’s commitment to support students with disabilities.”

@BC presents video highlights of a May 21 training session for participants planning to wear blindfolds when they take part in the race.

After graduating as an English major, David Lynch, Jr., went into journalism, first as a reporter at the Boston-area Tab weeklies and then as a writer for Cheers, a restaurant trade publication in New York City. In 1996 he became a senior editor at Wine & Spirits magazine, where his June 2000 article “Total Tequila” won the James Beard Foundation’s journalism award.

Lynch and his wife, Josie, spent the following year in Italy, which resulted in his first book, Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy (2002), written with his former Boston College roommate, restaurateur Joseph Bastianich ’89. The collaboration continued when Bastianich, in Lynch’s words, “took a flyer,” inviting his friend to become wine director at Babbo Ristorante, a New York City restaurant owned by Bastianich and chef Mario Batali. A second Beard Foundation award for Lynch followed in 2004—for “outstanding wine service.”

Last fall Lynch became general manager and wine director of a new seafood restaurant in Manhattan, the John Dory. He continues to write for Gourmet, GQ, New York magazine, and Wine & Spirits and has another book—The Wine Snob’s Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Oenological Knowledge (2008), written with Vanity Fair contributing editor David Kamp.

This summer he will move to San Francisco to become wine director at Quince, a restaurant offering Italian and French cuisine. Before heading west, he joined his father, attorney David Lynch, Sr. ’64, for their 20th and 45th reunions at the University where, says Lynch, “I got the first inklings that I could write.”

Speakers and panelists from the worlds of finance, philanthropy, and academe addressed a range of issues relating to “Wealth and Giving in the Current Economic Crisis,” which was the subject of a two-day conference sponsored by the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Eaton Vance Investment Council. A June 9 session in the Heights Room titled “What Do We Do Now?” featured (from left) Dean Schooler of the Schooler Family Foundation; Thomas Murphy ’50, founder of the T.B. Murphy Foundation Charitable Trust; Carmel Shields ’81, executive vice president of Shields MRI and the Shields Health Care Group; and moderator Paul Schervish, sociology professor and director of the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy. “People were cautiously optimistic about a turnaround in the recession and the stock market,” said Schervish in describing the tenor of the discussion. “But they were cautiously pessimistic about how soon that will translate into a restored confidence and capacity on the part of donors.”

At the June 4 opening session of the annual Center for Asset Management Conference, in a speech titled “Madoff and the Math that Uncovered the World’s Largest Ponzi Scheme,” Harry Markopolos, MS ’97 (center), recounted his decade-long effort to uncover the truth of convicted investment manager Bernard Madoff’s business dealings and trigger action on the part of government regulators. Markopolos told the audience of some 100 leaders of financial service firms, media, and University faculty, “I still have trouble getting a full night’s sleep.” Above, at a reception in the Murray Function Room prior to his speech, Markopolos (center) talked with associate professor of finance Edith Hotchkiss (left) and Andy Boynton, dean of the Carroll School of Management.