Newswise — In a triumphant return to their alma mater today, former co-anchor of World News Tonight Bob Woodruff '83 and journalist Lee McConaughy Woodruff '82 together offered 10 practical life tips to Colgate University's Class of 2007.
The admonition to "wear a helmet and buckle your seatbelt," was among the most poignant moments in the keynote address the husband and wife team delivered at the school's 186th commencement. Prior to their speech — which earned them a standing ovation — the Woodruffs and four others received honorary doctorates from Colgate. The university also awarded 674 bachelor of arts degrees and four master of arts in teaching degrees during the day's ceremonies.
The couple began their address by describing Bob Woodruff's traumatic brain injury from an improvised explosive device in Iraq nearly a year and a half ago, and his long and difficult road to recovery. "I wish I could protect all of you from the ups and downs of life, from the bends in the road to come," he told the undergraduates. "At your age I think I believed that life traveled pretty much in a straight line"¦But life wouldn't be life if it didn't have some curve balls in store."
They then offered "top 10 tactics for the real world," including Lee Woodruff's "snap it on — buckle it up." "In the military hospitals and VAs [Veterans Affairs clinics], we've seen so many young men and women robbed of limitless futures by roadside bombs," she explained. "But brain injuries happen in this country, too — 1.5 million a year from motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries, playground falls, even domestic violence"¦Wear a helmet and buckle your seat belt."
Among their other suggestions were "kiss a lot of frogs" ; find mentors; recycle; learn, think, and act globally; and say thanks to parents.
Bob Woodruff wrapped up their speech by expressing his gratitude to his alma mater for helping him find his wife. "I want to thank this school, Colgate University, for magically giving me Lee. Because, while she has always had my back on our journey together, in so many ways she is also the woman who saved my life."
Before the Woodruffs' address, Colgate President Rebecca S. Chopp said in her remarks that the members of the Class of 2007 had accomplished a great deal since they arrived in Hamilton four years ago. "During the last four years, you achieved, you learned, you played, you formed great friendships, and you grew into adulthood on this campus," she said. "You lived with passion."
She urged the graduates to hold onto that same passion in the years ahead. "Pursue your profession or career with passion — with intelligence, fun, hard work, spirit, passion. Engage in your community and build it, passionately."
"Continue to find your own passions in life, make sure you live an interesting life marked by curiosity, engagement," she continued. "Make a difference in the world. Drink deeply of the wells of human experience in the arts, in athletics, in culture, in education."
Chopp then awarded honorary degrees to the Woodruffs, baccalaureate speaker David Ellenson, president and I.H. and Anna Grancell professor of Jewish religious thought at Hebrew Union College"Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC"JIR); Raymond Cross, president of Morrisville State College; Carrie Mae Weems, award-winning photographer; and John Golden '66, outgoing chairman of Colgate's Board of Trustees and founder of John A. Golden Associates. She also conferred 674 bachelor of arts degrees and four master of arts in teaching degrees. (For full text of the speeches delivered by Chopp and the Woodruffs, go to www.colgate.edu the week of May 21.)
About the honoreesBob Woodruff '83, Doctor of Humane LettersOne of ABC News's top correspondents, Bob Woodruff joined the network in 1996 and has since covered countless international stories, including the war in Afghanistan, life behind the curtain in North Korea, and the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. He was a part of the ABC News team given an Alfred I. duPont award for live coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI.
Within weeks of being named co-anchor of World News Tonight in January 2006, Woodruff was seriously injured by a roadside bomb that struck his vehicle near Taji, Iraq, while he was reporting on U.S. and Iraqi security forces in the area. He returned to work in the fall to develop a documentary about his journey and that of other soldiers with traumatic brain injury. He and wife Lee have also written a book titled In an Instant that was published at the end of February.
Before becoming a journalist, Woodruff served as a corporate lawyer and a teacher of law in Beijing. He earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1987 and a bachelor of arts degree from Colgate in 1983.
Lee McConaughy Woodruff '82, Doctor of Humane Letters As co-author of the bestselling memoir In An Instant, Lee McConaughy Woodruff garnered critical acclaim for the compelling and humorous chronicle of her family's journey to recovery following her husband Bob's roadside bomb injury in Iraq in January 2006. Appearing together on national television and radio many times since the February 2007 publication of their book, they have helped put a face on the serious issue of traumatic brain injury among returning Iraq war veterans.
A freelance writer, Woodruff has penned numerous personal articles about her family and parenting that have run in such high-profile magazines as Health, Redbook, Country Living, and Family Fun. She also works as a contributing editor for Family Fun, where she writes about health and travel, and often serves as a spokesperson for the publication, participating in national and regional broadcasts to discuss various topics on the magazine's behalf. In addition to working as a freelance writer, Woodruff has run her own public relations and marketing consulting business since 1991. Before then, she was senior vice president of Porter Novelli, a public relations firm, and spent a year in Beijing, China, working for the communications company Hill & Knowlton. Woodruff lives in Westchester County, N.Y., with her husband and four children.
David Ellenson, Doctor of DivinityDavid Ellenson, who delivered the sermon during the morning's baccalaureate service, was ordained at HUC"JIR in 1977 and is the eighth president in the school's 130-year history. He is a distinguished rabbi and scholar, teacher, and leader of the Reform Movement. Associated with HUC"JIR for more than 30 years, he is a beloved teacher and mentor to generations of HUC"JIR students, and internationally recognized for his publications and research in the area of Jewish religious thought, ethics, and modern Jewish history.
A member of HUC"JIR's faculty since 1979, Ellenson has served as lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor of Jewish religious thought. He currently holds the Gus Waterman Herrman Presidential Chair and is the I.H. and Anna Grancell professor of Jewish religious thought. He received his doctorate from Columbia University in 1981 and holds master's degrees from Columbia University, HUC"JIR, and the University of Virginia, and a bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary in Virginia (1969). Born in Brookline, Mass., Ellenson was raised in Newport News, Va.
Raymond Cross, Doctor of ScienceRaymond Cross joined Morrisville State College, a SUNY Agricultural and Technical College, as its president in April 1998. Previously president and CEO of Northwest Technical College in Minnesota and head of the Engineering Technologies Department at Ferris State University in Michigan, he has worked for and consulted extensively with the auto industry.
At Morrisville, Cross has promoted entrepreneurship in rural communities through the school's Nelson Farms — a one-stop facility for small-scale food processors, farmers, growers, and producers — and advocated the use of New York agricultural feedstocks to develop biofuels. He was born and raised on a small dairy farm in Michigan and received his doctorate from Michigan State, a master's degree from Central Michigan University, and a bachelor's degree Ferris State.
Carrie Mae Weems, Doctor of Fine ArtsCarrie Mae Weems, a native of Portland, Ore., earned a bachelor of fine arts from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, in 1981, and a master of fine arts from the University of California, San Diego, in 1984. She also pursued graduate studies in folklore at the University of California at Berkeley, and in 1999 was presented with an honorary doctorate from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland.
Weems has taught extensively at colleges throughout the country — including Syracuse University in 2005 — and her work has been commissioned by numerous organizations, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Chicago Public Library, the 47th Venice Biennale, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Honors include the Alpert Award for Visual Arts and a Visual Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, among others.
John A. Golden '66, Doctor of Humane LettersJohn Golden is the founder of John A. Golden Associates, a New York City-based financial advisory firm and investor in private and public companies. He is a retired general partner of Goldman Sachs & Co., the investment banking firm, where he was a leader in its mergers and acquisition advisory business for two decades. He graduated from Colgate in 1966, and then received his law degree from Columbia University in 1969. In addition to serving as the chair of Colgate's Board of Trustees, Golden is a member of the Board of Visitors and the Dean's Council of Columbia Law School, the Board of Governors of HUC"JIR, and the Board of Directors of the Michael Wolk Heart Foundation.
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