Introductions and Remarks
Admissions Scholars Day
Daniel F. Sullivan – April 12, 1999

Hello and welcome! I’m Dan Sullivan, St. Lawrence Class of 1965 and President of the University. It’s great to see you all here today on this wonderful, quintessentially North Country day.
It’s not very different, actually, from the day in the spring of 1961 when I too visited St. Lawrence for a program much like the one you’re experiencing today. While accepted at a group of similarly competitive eastern colleges and universities, I knew immediately on that day that this was where I wanted to go to college. The rest, as they say, is history. I’ve never looked back. St. Lawrence was just right for me. I hope you’ll conclude that it’s just right for you.
Introduction of Lorna Ness
One of the things we’ve learned that prospective students find very helpful at programs like this one is having the opportunity to hear from alumni who have gone on from St. Lawrence to interesting and distinguished careers, and who have also had time to reflect on how St. Lawrence prepared them. We’re very fortunate to have with us today Lorna Ness, St. Lawrence Class of 1975, who will share some of her observations on St. Lawrence with you and then take your questions.
As an undergraduate, Lorna was an extraordinarily active student and scholar. She was elected, for example, to Phi Beta Kappa, the national academic honorary. Membership in Phi Beta Kappa is attained only by the very top students in a class. Lorna was involved in student government, served as a justice on the Student Judiciary Board, and was a member of Kappa Delta Sigma sorority. She was a real leader at St. Lawrence.
After graduating from St. Lawrence with degrees in mathematics and economics, she received her MBA from the Wharton School of Business. Along with a number of outstanding St. Lawrence graduates over the years, she was hired at Bankers Trust Company by then President and CEO John Hannon, St. Lawrence Class of 1944. When Ann and I visited John and Vivien in North Carolina recently, one of the first questions he asked was how Lorna is doing!
Lorna worked her way up at Bankers Trust and in 1989 became Treasurer of European Operations. In 1991, she co-founded the Bank’s Risk Management Advisory Group.
In 1996, Lorna left Bankers Trust to become Managing Director at Askari, Inc., a management consulting and technology firm. Presently, Lorna is Managing Director of NetRisk, Inc., a company she helped found that provides risk management software products, risk technology and advisory services, and consultation to banks, insurers, investment managers, brokers, and other risk intensive firms.
In her spare time, Lorna has stayed involved with St. Lawrence by counseling students on career issues, and by raising money for the University. Most recently, she has agreed to both contribute to personally and raise funds from others to endow a portion of our new University Fellows Program. The University Fellows Program is a just-announced initiative to recognize and celebrate student academic achievement by providing funding for up to 20 student/faculty collaborative or faculty-supervised student research projects in the summer and at other times when students can manage them. Beginning this year, the University will provide up to $100,000 per year in support of this program. It makes real in news ways the coach/apprentice relationship our faculty try to develop with our students. We’re very excited about it, and Lorna has been a key player in helping us define it properly.
St. Lawrence alumni are passionate about their experience here. That describes Lorna. But she is also passionate about helping future students have the same kind of St. Lawrence experience she had. That is why she agreed to travel from New York to be with us today.
Please join me in welcoming Lorna Ness!

Introduction of Tom Coburn
And now I’d like to introduce Dr. Tom Coburn, Vice President of the University, Dean of Academic Affairs, and Dana Professor of Religion. Tom’s role at St. Lawrence is to worry about everything having to do with our academic programs, and about intercollegiate athletics.
This is Tom’s 25th year at St. Lawrence. He did his undergraduate work at Princeton, and his Ph.D. at Harvard. He has led St. Lawrence’s student overseas program in India several times, and he is a prolific author on Indian religion.
When I came back to St. Lawrence three years ago, I snookered him into coming out of the faculty to become our academic dean. He’s absolutely terrific at it. He has some thoughts he wants to share with you this afternoon as well. Tom!

Remarks in Closing
Well, there you have it. All I want to say in closing is that, should you accepted students choose St. Lawrence as the place to pursue your liberal arts education, we will work with you day and night to help you get where you want to go. You have an extraordinary adventure ahead. We’d be delighted if you chose to have that adventure with us.
We’d like you now to join us in an informal reception. We can answer your questions, and you will also hear a few selections by our outstanding singing group, The Laurentian Singers. It’s great to have you here!