92nd Annual Commencement Speakers Announced

May 10, 2011

BROOKLYN AND LONG ISLAND, NY May 11, 2011 St. Josephs College is pleased to welcome two distinguished speakers to its 92nd annual commencement ceremonies:

    S. Margaret Buckley, C.S.J., academic dean at the Brooklyn Campus of St. Josephs College will serve as the keynote speaker for the Brooklyn Campus exercises on Saturday, May 28 at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge at 11 a.m. and will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.
    Dr. Shaun L. McKay, Ed.D., president of Suffolk County Community College will serve as the keynote speaker for the Long Island Campus ceremonies on Tuesday, May 31, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum at 3 p.m. and will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

S. Margaret Buckley, C.S.J. graduated from St. Josephs College in 1955, and, after teaching English and joining the Sisters of St. Josephs, returned to the College in 1969 to teach the foundations of education course and supervise student teaching. Throughout her 42 years at SJC, she served as chair of the Education Department, was appointed assistant academic dean of the Brooklyn Campus in 1977 and academic dean in 1987, a position that she will stand down from at the end of the semester. During her tenure as academic dean, S. Margaret created many programs that enhanced academic life on the Brooklyn campus, most notably the Colleges first honors program, a study abroad course, the Founders Day Lecture and the Faculty Development Small Grants Program, while also implementing the Colleges Save-a-Year Program that allowed faculty to teach college courses to high school seniors. S. Margaret earned her Ed.D in Curriculum and Teaching at Columbia Teachers College in 1973 and her M.A. from Columbia University.  Following her retirement, S. Margaret Buckley will continue to serve St. Josephs as a professor and associate chair of the Education Department.

Shaun L. McKay, Ed.D. is the sixth president of Suffolk County Community College. Dr. McKay joined SCCC in 2005 as executive dean of the Michael J. Grant Campus in Brentwood. Prior to taking on the role of president, he was the interim executive vice president for the College and acted as chief operating officer for planning, policy development, implementation and assessment. He has served as systems appraiser for the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQUIP) of the Higher Learning Commission-North Central Association and is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice (JSARP), the American Council on Educations (ACE) Commission on Effective Leadership, the SUNY Research Foundations Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors of the United Way of Long Island, the Board Steering Committee for the Long Island Regional Advisory Council on Higher Education (LIRACHE) and the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce. Dr. McKay received his Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration with a specialty in Community College Leadership from Morgan State University, his M.A. in Management and Communication from the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore and his B.S. in Business Management from the University of Maryland. He currently lives in Manorville, NY with his wife and three children.