Speakers told the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s graduating class of 2025 to recognize the “power of innovation” at the school’s commencement ceremony Friday.
The CEO of American Bureau of Shipping Christopher J. Wiernicki, SEAS Dean John Lach and student speaker Talia Novack congratulated the 809 members of the class of 2025 on graduating, encouraging them to appreciate the moment of graduation and thank those who supported them. Speakers challenged students to pursue “continuous learning” during their lives and to make something “greater than ourselves.”
Wiernicki, a 1983 GW graduate with a master’s in structural engineering, said the resilience of his father, who served as a resistance fighter in Poland during World War II, taught him to value dignity and respect as a “foundation for leadership.”
“Everyone should be a leader,” Wiernicki said. “And quite frankly, all of you will be in different capacities and in different ways over the course of your life, and you will all need to lead in a world experiencing relentless technology innovation, that is driving rapid, disruptive change on a scale not seen before, and you will have to adapt.”
Wiernicki said the graduating class should seek guidance from their parents and peers to prepare themselves for future leadership.
“Remember, you have been especially trained to become the leaders of tomorrow, and we will need your leadership vision, not to mention every bit of ingenuity and strength, if we are to continue to prosper and grow,” Wiernicki said.
Wiernicki also said members of the graduating class should have fun “along the way,” so that they can share their leadership stories with the graduating classes in the future.
“I urge you to enjoy this moment,” Wiernicki said. “Take some time to look around and understand just how much this University means to you. Whether you studied on campus or online, the lessons learned here will only grow stronger over time as you apply knowledge in your profession.”
Lach thanked the graduating class’s parents for “nurturing” their children’s dreams and “integrating” them into GW. Lach said the class of 2025 “strengthened” the engineering community at GW with their enthusiasm, talents and “unique gifts.”
“You remained focused and did not give up when obstacles entered your path,” Lach said. “And now it’s time to celebrate all that you’ve accomplished at every level. GW engineers and computer scientists are leading the way and shaping the future by leveraging what they learned here in and outside of the classroom and laboratory.”
Novack said the time spent working on machines and code at SEAS enabled students to “push” themselves during their time at GW. She said students should work not only to build systems and technologies, but continue to build the “communities, values and integrities” that shape the future.
“Here at GW Engineering, we’ve learned from each other,” Novack said. “We leaned upon our teammates when projects felt impossible, and it was through their diverse perspectives and thoughtful, challenging ideas that our systems and ourselves were strengthened and made more resilient.”
