At Hooding, Advanced-Degree Recipients Celebrate Hard, Successful Journey

June 14, 2016

A sultry, overcast day could not dull the energy and excitement of Princeton University's newest advanced-degree recipients and their supporters who gathered Monday, May 30, in Jadwin Gymnasium for the Graduate School Hooding ceremony.

"This ceremony is a welcome opportunity for us to recognize the dedication, effort and intellect that you have brought to your work here," Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber said. "Your graduate degree is a testament to your talent and commitment as well as a mark of true excellence in scholarship and research. Congratulations on this tremendous achievement."

Sanjeev Kulkarni, dean of the Graduate School and a professor of electrical engineering, began the ceremony by acknowledging the years of hard work an advanced degree requires, and emphasizing the sense of accomplishment and the new opportunities that go along with completing it.

"Our purpose today is to recognize the efforts, dedication and accomplishments of our graduates, to congratulate them on completing master's and doctoral programs, and to celebrate their transitions into a broad range of careers in which they will achieve distinction over the coming years," Kulkarni said.

"The process of mastering a discipline and contributing something new to a body of knowledge with a deep focus is in fact broadening and liberating," he said. "It enables one to pursue new directions, new fields or entirely new endeavors with the abilities and confidence to not just succeed but to excel and to lead." Read more at the Graduate School.

View more photos or a video recording of the Hooding ceremony.