Allegrante Receives SUNY Honorary Degree and Speaks at the Cortland Campus Commencement
Allegrante, who graduated with honors from SUNY Cortland in 1974, was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.
In citing Allegrante’s accomplishments, the university honored him for being “… a world-renowned health scholar, researcher, educator, and administrator whose work has improved the health and well-being of people around the globe.”
The citation noted the impact of his “research into behavioral intervention and improved self-management as tools to help people with chronic diseases” that “has been funded continuously by the National Institutes of Health for more than a quarter century” and for “cutting-edge work [that] has contributed significantly to combatting health issues that include childhood obesity, tobacco use, hypertension and arthritis, as well as to the development of effective health education strategies for special populations such as military veterans.”
SUNY Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum also cited Allegrante’s “leadership role in establishing uniform international standards for professional preparation programs in public health.”
In his remarks to the graduating class, Allegrante shared that neither his father, a barber, nor his mother, a homemaker, had completed high school, adding that he was proud to be honored by “the most comprehensive system of public higher education in the nation.”
“That distinction alone speaks volumes about what the State University of New York and this college have done for me, and it should tell you that anything is possible with the education and opportunity you have been given,” he said.
Allegrante concluded by telling graduates “… if you can remain open to others and build social capital, if you can cultivate and stay connected to mentors, and if you can focus daily on staying positive, you are much more likely to lead an engaged and enriched life in which you will find more happiness, more love, and more purpose.”
Published Wednesday, Jun. 3, 2015
TC's John Allegrante received an honorary degree from the State University of New York and was the speaker at Commencement at the SUNY Cortlandt campus.
TC's John Allegrante received an honorary degree from the State University of New York and was the speaker at Commencement at the SUNY Cortlandt campus.