SUNY Poly names two commencement speakers

MARCY, N.Y. — Heather Hage, Griffiss Institute president/CEO, and Mike Ballman, Cornerstone Community/Plymouth Bethesda Church pastor and community activist, will serve as the commencement speakers for SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s College of Engineering and Colleges of Arts & Sciences/Business/Health Sciences, respectively.

“We are incredibly grateful that Heather and Mike will be joining us for our commencement ceremonies on May 4,” SUNY Poly President Winston Soboyejo said in a SUNY Poly news release. “Their distinguished careers, entrepreneurial ventures, and unique experiences in service of others will certainly be a great source of inspiration as we celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates.”

Hage serves as president and CEO of Griffiss Institute, a Rome–based national nonprofit talent and technology-development organization for the U.S. Department of Defense and an international network of academic, government, and industry partners. She has led strategy and support operations for the standup of the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate’s research and development and the incubator facilities at the Innovare Advancement Center in Rome.

Ballman is an accomplished community advocate as executive director of the Morrow Warming Center and founder of the Oneida Square Project, as well as pastor of Cornerstone Community/Plymouth Bethesda Church. He has worked to create a more just community and eliminate barriers to employment, affordable housing, emergency shelter, and healthy nutrition for Oneida Square residents, per the release. Outreach and advocacy efforts through the church include the podcast, “Home Street Home,” a foot-washing ministry to provide foot care and basic medical screening for the unhoused, weekly nutrition, hygiene, laundry, and clothing services along with the SPARK mosaic, sculpture, and painting program.

SUNY Poly, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees via its colleges of arts and sciences, business, engineering, and health sciences, will celebrate commencement for the College of Engineering at 10 a.m. and for its colleges of arts and sciences, business, and health sciences at 2 p.m. on May 4 at its Wildcat Field House in Marcy.