VCU Honors Newest Graduates

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley
Division of University Relations

Nancy C. Everett, a business executive and Virginia Commonwealth University alumna, told graduates Saturday that they will be better able to compete in the marketplace if they embrace the world beyond their borders.

"Regardless of why, the trend toward a smaller world is here to stay," Everett said. "As future leaders you have the opportunity and indeed, the responsibility, to engage in the world."

Everett, chairman and CEO of General Motors Asset Management Corp. and its U.S. subsidiaries, also told graduates that it will be incumbent upon them to stay abreast of technology and innovation in their fields.

Everett, speaking to a capacity crowd at the Alltel Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center, urged the Class of 2006 to be true to themselves, to give a little back and to be sure to enjoy the ride to success.

"It's not about making a lot of money, and not about getting a lot of recognition, it's about the challenge," she said. "It's looking in the mirror and feeling good about the day."

Everett, who earned a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1978 at VCU, received an honorary doctor of humane letters during the ceremony. At GMAM, she is responsible for more than $160 billion of assets held by GM and third-party clients. Prior to that, she was chief investment officer for the Virginia Retirement System. Everett is a founding trustee of the School of Business Foundation at VCU and a member of the board of directors of the VCU Foundation.

Everett said she is often asked about her successful career, and how she planned it.

"I didn't plan anything," she said, adding that graduates would do well to remember that the "adventure is in the journey as much as it's in the destination" and that success is the result of "a marathon, not a sprint."

The graduating class of 2,300 students marks the largest total ever to graduate from VCU following the fall semester. The class represents 108 counties and cities in Virginia, 35 states, Washington, D.C., and 40 countries. Students received professional, graduate and undergraduate degrees.

VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., applauded the many accomplishments of the class and noted its members' role in the development of VCU into a leading urban university.

"You are a microcosm of the tremendous scope and diversity of Virginia Commonwealth University," Trani said. "You represent the determination of our student body to fulfill their educational and career goals and the spirit of innovation that is found throughout VCU."