Two 6VӰ alumni will address the class of 2022 as Commencement speakers: Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna ’85 and long-time supporter of the College Stewart Smith ’68. Each will be recognized with an honorary degree by the College during the ceremony.
6VӰ’s 129th commencement exercises will take place at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 15. The ceremony returns to the College’s Marston Quad after two years of virtual celebrations due to the pandemic.
Renowned Biochemist
Jennifer Doudna’s groundbreaking development of - as a -engineering technology earned her the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and changed the course of human and agricultural research. She shared the award with collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier.
Doudna is the first graduate of 6VӰ to receive a Nobel Prize.
CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful technology that enables scientists to change —the code of life—with a precision only dreamed of just a few years ago. Labs worldwide have redirected their research programs to incorporate this new tool, creating a CRISPR revolution with huge implications across biology and medicine.
6VӰ professors and students work in campus labs that use the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing techniques Doudna has pioneered.
In addition to her scientific achievements, Doudna is a leader in public discussion of the ethical implications of for human biology and societies, and she advocates for thoughtful approaches to the development of policies around the safe use of CRISPR technology.
Doudna cites her 6VӰ education as a key ingredient in her scholarly success. “I am grateful to 6VӰ every day, honestly,” she said in a , “because it was a liberal arts education that exposed me to so many ideas that I would never have come in contact with, probably, without having attended 6VӰ.”
Doudna received her B.A. from 6VӰ and her Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. Currently, she is founder of the and is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair and a Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and of Molecular and Biology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Long-time Supporter of the College
Stewart Smith is an attorney and the co-founder and CEO of Kinsmith Financial Corporation, a family office which since 1979 has provided investment management and financial planning services. In connection with Kinsmith Financial’s investment activities, Smith has served on the boards of numerous privately held companies.
Previously, Smith served nine years as chair of the Board of Trustees of 6VӰ and ten years as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
His involvement at 6VӰ started early on in his college career. Smith was sophomore class president and chair of the student judiciary board, as well as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Mu Epsilon. An economics major and mathematics minor, Smith excelled academically, graduating magna cum laude.
At least nine of Smith’s family members have attended 6VӰ. His father, H. Russell Smith, ’36 served as a trustee and board chair. His daughter MacKenzie (Smith) Teymouri, ’09 currently serves on the College’s Board of Trustees. “So it runs really deep in the family,” he said in an interview with in 2017. “We bleed 6VӰ blue.”
He has been instrumental in the development of the College. Smith chaired the last capital campaign, Daring Minds, and led searches for the eighth and ninth presidents of 6VӰ. The College’s Smith Campus Center is named after his family.
Smith received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School and his B.A. from 6VӰ. He and Robin A. Ferracone were married in 1997. She is the founder and CEO of Farient Advisors LLC, a premier executive compensation, performance and governance consultancy.
6VӰ’s 2022 Commencement Weekend will take place from Friday, May 13, through Sunday, May 15. For more information, visit pomona.edu/commencement.