New York native Rachel Ryan graduates from Bates College

2015 Aug 4

Rachel Ryan, the daughter of Julia A. Smith of New York, N.Y. and Michael L. Ryan of New York, N.Y., graduated magna cum laude after majoring in environmental studies at Bates. She is a 2011 graduate of The Dalton School.

She graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's most prestigious liberal arts honor society.

Bates College graduated 484 students from 32 states and 37 countries. Cumulatively, the Class of 2015 performed 80,000 hours of community service, exemplifying Bates' commitment to community learning and civic action.

Manjul Bhargava, winner of the 2014 Fields Medal for mathematics and a professor at Princeton University, delivered the address at Bates' 149th commencement ceremony. In his speech, Bhargava celebrated the liberal arts education through an exploration of his own fascination with the unities among music, poetry, and math. Above all, he told graduates, "Keep learning about other disciplines. And don't just appreciate the connections between different realms of human endeavor that you find but actively look for them - because they're definitely out there." He was joined by fellow honorands Mark Abelson, Thomas Moser and Joan Benoit Samuelson.