Citi Chief Innovation Officer Returns to Alma Mater for Walsh College Commencement Where Local Graduates Receive Numerous Awards & Recognitions

Walsh College conferred an honorary doctor of laws degree upon keynote speaker Deborah Hopkins, Chief Innovation Officer and Chairman of Venture Capital Initiatives at Citi, at its 101st commencement ceremony on June 22, at Zion Christian Church in Troy.

Hopkins’s speech, titled “Made in Detroit,” recalled her upbringing in metro Detroit and the impact the region had on the type of business professional she is. Hopkins told graduates to “own your brand, believe in your mission and be passionate in what you do. Your ability to succeed has a lot to do with where you’re from.”

Founder, president and CEO of HTC Global Services, Madhava Reddy, was also recognized and received the Distinguished Alumni Award. Reddy founded the global information and technology service and solution provider 20 years ago, which now ranks among Michigan’s top five fastest growing private companies.

Dual MBA/Master of Science in Finance candidate Kahn Hall of West Bloomfield addressed the class as student speaker. In his speech, Hall described achieving a degree from Walsh as “a journey you begin initially with survival skills and end with newly acquired business instincts you earned in the trenches.”

In addition, Walsh presented the following awards to Michigan based graduates: Ryan Mary Stedman, Canton,  the Bureau of National Affairs Graduate Accounting Award; Patricia Lynn Martinez, Livonia, the Everett M. Hawley, Jr. Taxation Award; Tamara A. Olson, Clarkston, the Financial Executives Institute (FEI) Award; Louis C. Schmidt V, Troy, the FEI Award; Ishan U. Shah, Canton, the FEI Award; Amy Renwanz, Berkley, the Firman H. Hass Writing Award; Michelle Elisha Locke, Davison, the Research Institute of America Graduate Tax Award; Thomas S. Mitchell, Clarkston, the Stanley W. Smith Taxation Manuscript Award; and Christopher Ryan Elmore, Shelby Township, the Walter B. Fisher Award for Excellence in Accounting.

Participating in the commencement were 14 graduates and two faculty members who served in the country’s armed forces and were distinguished by a red, white and blue regalia cord. 

The 487 graduates join a group of over 25,000 Walsh alumni, 83 percent of whom reside in Southeast Michigan.

WALSH COLLEGE
Founded in 1922, Walsh College, one of Southeast Michigan’s largest not for profit business schools, offers upper-division undergraduate and graduate business and technology degrees and certificate programs at locations in Troy, Novi, Clinton Township, and Port Huron, as well as online. Walsh’s business services division offers the Walsh Institute, designed to provide solutions for businesses through training, continuing education and consulting. Walsh is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (www.ncahlc.org; phone: 312-263-0456) and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE, www.iacbe.org). The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP, http://www.acbsp.org/) accredits specific degree programs.

CONTACTS:
Brenda Meller/Walsh College Marketing Director bmeller@walshcollege.edu or 248.823.1205.
Alicia Boltach/Account Supervisor at Airfoil Public Relations boltach@airfoilgroup.com or 248.304.1453.