Alumnus, Former Immunex Leader to Deliver Commencement Address

Graduate Ed Fritzky, retired Immunex Corporation chairman, chief executive officer and president, will return to Duquesne as the featured speaker at the 2014 Spring Ceremony on Friday, May 9, at 5 p.m. in the A.J. Palumbo Center.

Fritzky will deliver the commencement address to 1,581 students, who will be recognized at the ceremony. In addition, the University will confer honorary degrees upon Dr. Patricia Hill Collins and Dr. Elaine Tagliareni.

A 1972 graduate of Duquesne’s McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts, Fritzky was recognized by Forbes magazine as a “Best Boss in America.”

During his tenure, Immunex grew to become the third largest biotechnology company in the world, and its lead product, Enbrel, was the first biotechnology product approved for the treatment of rheumatoid disease, psoriatic arthritis and ankolysing spondylitis. Fritzky also led Immunex’s effort to merge with Amgen, completing the largest merger in the history of the industry in July 2002.

In 2004, Duquesne announced the creation of the Edward V. Fritzky Endowed Chair in Biotechnology Leadership. Made possible through a $1.5 million gift by Mr. Fritzky, this interdisciplinary professorship is designed to unite biotechnology initiatives at the University and beyond, as well as to forge alliances with the biotechnology research community of greater Pittsburgh. That same year, Mr. Fritzky received an Honorary Doctor of Science from Duquesne. In 2005, he was inducted into the Century Club of Distinguished Duquesne University Alumni.

Dr. Patricia Hill Collins is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland and is the Charles Phelps Taft Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati. She has taught courses on critical race theory, sociology of Black activism, contemporary Black woman, and feminist scholarship in the social sciences, among others. A past president of the American Sociological Association, Collins has written and edited several books and her work has appeared in Issues in Race & Society, Qualitative Sociology, and Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Additionally, Collins will be the keynote speaker at the School of Education Diploma Ceremony at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, in the A.J. Palumbo Center.

Dr. Elaine Tagliareni is the chief program officer for the National League for Nursing (NLN) and a former president of the NLN. In addition, as head of the NLN’s Research and Professional Development unit, Tagliareni oversees all faculty development activities at the NLN. As president of the league, she coordinated a two-phase collaborative grant between the NLN, the NLN Foundation for Nursing Education and Community College of Philadelphia, funded by the Independence Foundation and the John A. Hartford Foundation. In addition, Tagliareni was key in fostering innovation and in promoting the nurse educator as an advanced practice role. Her work nationally has resulted in significant changes in nursing education and public policy.

Tagliareni will deliver remarks at the School of Nursing Diploma Ceremony on May 10 at noon in the Union Ballroom.

Commencement will be preceded by a Baccalaureate Mass, which begins at 3 p.m. in the A.J. Palumbo Center. Both events will be broadcast live via a webcast. A reception will immediately follow on Academic Walk.