Hall of Fame Inductees - Sonny Bhagowalia & Joyce France
The National Defense University’s Information Resources Management College (NDU iCollege) held a combined Hall of Fame Ceremony and Certificate Program Graduation on Friday, April 17, 2015 at Fort Lesley J. McNair. Chancellor Jan Hamby, RADM (Ret.), USN, welcomed graduates, faculty members, and guests to the iCollege. Nearly 180 students graduated from the college’s various certificate programs, including Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Cyber Security, Cyber Leadership, Enterprise Architecture (EA), IT Program Management (ITPM), and the Advanced Management Program (AMP).
Following a brief introduction, Chancellor Hamby recognized four organizations who sponsor Faculty Chair positions at the college – Lockheed Martin, Department of Energy, Department of State, and the Defense Information Systems Agency. The ceremony then transitioned to the Hall of Fame induction, where Ms. Joyce France was recognized as the 2015 Distinguished Advocate and Mr. Sonny Bhagowalia as the 2015 Distinguished Alumnus of the iCollege. Both France and Bhagowalia received a crystal award and their photos will be displayed on the Hall of Fame wall at the NDU iCollege. Mr. Bhagowalia, currently the Department of Treasury CIO, then provided the students with some inspirational words as the ceremony’s guest speaker. Sonny told the graduates to “seize the opportunity to do good things, be ready to adapt to a world of constant change, and to use their core values to guide their leadership decisions.” He told the audience that “service to our country is what makes the United States great” and that the students received an outstanding education at the iCollege, which he considers “the best CIO and Cyber university in the world!”
Students then were called to stage to receive their graduation certificates, which were presented by Chancellor Hamby, NDU President Fred Padilla, and DoD CIO Terry Halvorsen. Top students were selected in the AMP (David Lubinsky), CIO Program (Paul Agosta), EA Program (John Killgallon), ITPM Certificate (Robert Knight), and CFO Program (Merrick Krause). The John M. Carabello Award was presented to Dr. Jim Chen, NDU iCollege faculty member, for being the top 2014-2015 Academic Year professor. Dr. Chen received a plaque and check from the NDU Foundation for being selected as the top faculty member.
Finally, graduates, faculty, staff, and guests adjourned to the Marshall Hall atrium for a light luncheon. The college's Master's Degree students graduate in June 2015 with NDU's other Master's students.
Questions can be addressed to coopersmithp@ndu.edu.