In a world with many distractions, it is worthwhile “to make time for things that take time,” said CBS newsman Jeff Glor, speaking at Suffolk University undergraduate commencement exercises on Sunday afternoon, May 22, 2011, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

Earlier in the day, law enforcement leader William “Bill” Bratton and his wife, television personality and trial attorney Rikki Klieman spoke to Suffolk University Law School graduates, urging them to pursue their dreams, without neglecting the people who made them possible.

Glor, who described the decisions and hard work that led to his success as a journalist, told the College of Arts and Sciences and Sawyer Business School graduates: “Your life is a marathon, not a sprint.”

He said that the graduates can expect mistakes along the course of their lives, “but keep going, keep learning … if mistakes happen, don’t fold.”

He also put in a good word for reading as one of the worthwhile activities that takes time.

“There’s always a reason to avoid books, a reason to avoid the things that take time. … Your education does not stop today,” said Glor. “You can get lost in a book and emerge a different person.”

Suffolk University honored Glor with an honorary Doctor of Journalism degree.

In the Law School commencement speech, Klieman talked of embracing her mother’s conviction that what determines success in life is “ten percent fact and circumstance and ninety percent attitude.” In terms of attitude, she urged the graduates to do “what really makes your heart sing,” but “maintain your true self … your integrity, dignity and self-respect.”

Bratton quoted Ghandi as saying that “to create change, you must become change.” He spoke of Suffolk University’s origins more than 100 years ago as a school offering opportunity to students not welcomed elsewhere.

“The education you have received … is without equal because this school is dedicated to equality,” he said. “As you go forward, seek to make a world without discrimination. … you can create change in the world that is meaningful and profound.”

Suffolk University honored Bratton and Klieman with honorary Doctor of Laws degrees.

Acting President and Provost Barry Brown advised graduates to “take what you have learned and wrap it in your values and character … to make a better world.”

About the speakers

Glor, a onetime WHDH-Boston television reporter, is news anchor for "The Early Show" on CBS. As a CBS News national correspondent, Glor has covered events ranging from the earthquake in Haiti to the Beijing Olympic Games. He was embedded with U.S. soldiers in Iraq and covered the 2008 presidential election.

Bratton distinguished himself as a major urban law enforcement leader as chief of the Los Angeles Police and commissioner of the New York and Boston police departments. He now is the chairman of Kroll, a division of the private international security firm Altegrity, Inc. Bratton began his law enforcement career as an officer on the Boston force after serving with the Army in Vietnam. He is the author of the critically acclaimed autobiography Turnaround.

Klieman’s broad range of experience has brought her to television journalism, the courtroom, academia and public speaking. She was an anchor at the Courtroom Television Network and a legal analyst for the CBS “Early Show,” the NBC “Today Show” and the E! Network. She remains of counsel to the law firm of Klieman & Lyons in Boston, where she specialized in criminal trial, appellate practice and civil litigation. Klieman’s autobiography, Fairy Tales Can Come True – How a Driven Woman Changed Her Destiny, reached the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List.

Graduate commencement speakers

Peter H. Smyth, chairman and chief executive officer of Greater Media, Inc., advised graduates to “take risks” and to “develop a business plan for life” as they follow their career and personal ambitions. Smyth spoke at the Sawyer Business School graduate student commencement on Saturday, May 21, at the Westin Copley Hotel. Smyth oversees a leading broadcasting company that includes 23 AM and FM radio stations in Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, Philadelphia and New Jersey. Radio Inc. magazine selected Smyth as “America’s Best Broadcaster” in 2005 and “Radio Executive of the Year” in 2007.

Economist and lawyer Joaquín Almunia of Spain, a vice president of the European Commission, the EU Executive branch, who is responsible for Competition Policy, advised students to “live a principled life, and fight for what you believe is right” in his speech at the College of Arts and Sciences graduate student commencement, also on Saturday. He is a former member of the Spanish Parliament who served as minister for Labor and Social Security and minister of Public Administration. Almunia ran for prime minister in 2000 as leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party.
Honorary Degrees

The Law School awarded the following honorary degrees:

• Bill Bratton, a security expert who has led the nation’s largest police departments, honorary Doctor of Laws
• Rikki Klieman, television personality and trial attorney, honorary Doctor of Laws
• David Z. Chesnoff, Esquire, Goodman and Chesnoff, honorary Doctor of Laws The Honorable John E. Fenton, Jr.,
• Distinguished Professor of Law and former dean of Suffolk Law School, retired Chief Administrative Justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court, honorary Doctor of Laws
• The Honorable Therese Murray, president of the Senate of the Commonwealth, honorary Doctor of Laws

The College of Arts and Sciences and Sawyer Business School awarded the following honorary degrees:

• Jeff Glor, news anchor for "The Early Show" on CBS, honorary Doctor of Journalism
• Peter H. Smyth, chairman and chief executive officer of Greater Media, Inc., honorary Doctor of Commerce
• Almunia, , a vice president of the European Commission, the EU Executive branch, honorary Doctor of Economics
• Joseph Corcoran, chairman, Corcoran Jennison Companies, honorary Doctor of Business Administration
• Jeanette G. Clough, president and CEO, Mount Auburn Hospital, honorary Doctor of Business Administration
• Marshall M. Sloane, chairman of the board, Century Bank, honorary Doctor of Business Administration

Statistics

• College of Arts and Sciences bachelor’s degree candidates: 782
• College master’s degree and doctoral candidates: 276
• Sawyer Business School bachelor’s degree candidates: 521
• Business School master’s degree candidates: 410
• Law School: 450 juris doctor, 15 master of laws degrees