About Commencement 2022
Ceremonies celebrating the Class of 2022 of Fairleigh Dickinson University were held on May 18, 2022 at MetLife Stadium.
Senator Booker Honors Class of 2022
View a special message to the Fairleigh Dickinson Class of 2022 from U.S. Senator Cory Booker, who holds an honorary doctorate from FDU.
Senator Booker Honors Class of 2022
2022 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient
John E. Harmon, Sr., IOM, President and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey
John E. Harmon, Sr., IOM
John E. Harmon, Sr., IOM, has served as the founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey since 2007 and has played an inspiring and influential role in advocating for the needs of African American residents and businesses and ensuring that governmental policies are equitable and that those who are deserving have access to meaningful opportunities in the marketplace.
John is also a board member and the former chairman of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, the founder and chairman of the New York State Black Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100. His vision, devotion, and commitment have been rightly recognized many times, including his distinction as the Number 1 Person of Color in New Jersey by ROI-NJ, an honor he earned the last two consecutive years. He also has been selected to NJBIZ’s Power List 100 and ROI-NJ’s Influencers: Power List 2022.
John received his bachelor’s degree in business management from FDU in 1983. He excelled in the banking industry and founded a transportation company before embarking on his career as a chamber executive.
At Commencement 2022, he was conferred the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters and hooded with the doctoral degree in Fairleigh Dickinson’s burgundy and blue colors.
Student Pinnacle Award Recipients for 2022
The Pinnacle Award is the highest honor the University bestows on a graduating student. One student from each campus who has demonstrated academic excellence, public service and commitment to the University is honored. Recipients will address their fellow graduates and the assembled audience.
Florham Campus
Taylor Alexa Bellardino
Student Pinnacle Award
Taylor Alexa Bellardino, of Parsippany, N.J., will graduate summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts in government and law with a concentration in legal studies and minors in business administration and prelaw. Taylor has been the president of Mock Trial, president and founder of the Prelaw Honor Society, cofounder and codesigner of the Prelaw Database and cofounder of the Legal Student Speaker Series. During her time with Mock Trial, she was the first student from Fairleigh Dickinson to ever receive the Top Attorney Award three times in the Regional and Invitational Competitions. She has also participated in the community as a member in the Student Government Association and the Politics and Law Club. Taylor was also a teaching assistant for the American Government and Politics and World History to 1500 courses. This spring, she co-instructed a course on Mock Trial for the Florham Institute for Lifelong Learning. She is currently a member of the Prelaw Honor Society and Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society. She also was a member of the University Honors Program. Taylor has been accepted into several law schools and is currently in the process of deciding where she will attend.
Metropolitan Campus
Lisa-Monet H. Jefferson
Student Pinnacle Award
Lisa-Monet H. Jefferson, of Ridgefield Park, N.J., will graduate cum laude with a bachelor of science in management with a concentration in human resource management and a minor in leadership. She co-founded the Women in Business Club in 2019 and served as its president during the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 academic years and was awarded Outstanding Student Leader (junior) in 2021. Lisa-Monet became a member of Omega Phi Chi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. in the spring of 2019 and served as president of the Omicron Chapter for the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 academic years, and was awarded Outstanding Greek President in 2021. Her other leadership roles at FDU include vice president of the Inter-Greek Council and student ambassador in the Office of Admission, where she was promoted to president of the Student Ambassador Program. Lisa-Monet is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Order of Omega: Greek Honor Society. She was also awarded Silberman College of Business Honors for several semesters between 2019–2021. Following graduation, she will be returning to FDU to continue her studies toward an MBA.
Vancouver Campus
Ha Thu Anh Pham
Student Pinnacle Award
Ha Thu Anh Pham was born and raised in Hanoi, Vietnam, and in August 2017, she moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to attend FDU as a Global Scholar. She will graduate summa cum laude with a bachelor of science in information technology with a minor in business administration. During her four years at FDU, Anh has been on the Academic Honors list every semester. She co-founded and led Code4Fun — the only programming club in the University, hosting knowledge-sharing and project-building sessions with her peers. She also excelled as a delegate in UNA Canada’s Youth as Peacebuilders forum and as a student representative in FDU Vancouver’s Commencement Ceremony Committee in 2018. To prepare for her future career, Anh has had software-engineering internships in various tech companies. Most notably, she joined Apple in the summer of 2020 as an intern on their iOS Accessibility team and worked on the Hearing Accessibility features for iOS 14, getting an outreach of a billion iPhone users. Anh also has become a fellow for Major League Hacking’s Production Engineering program.
2022 Commencement Ceremony Programs
The programs for the Commencement exercises of FDU’s New Jersey and Vancouver campuses are available for download.
Vancouver Campus Commencement, Thursday, May 5, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
University Commencement (Florham and Metropolitan Campuses),
Wednesday, May 18, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey