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 Carolyn Patty Blum, J.D.
Professor and Human Rights Lawyer
Honorary Doctor of Laws
Ms Blum is a lawyer who specializes in human rights abuses, immigration and refugee law, and detainee status during wartime. She has led legal challenges for immigration and refugee law reform, supported grassroots organizations working towards eradicating prejudice and discrimination and has presented talks around the world revealing truths about military detentions and human rights abuses. Ms Blum is a teaching fellow at Kellogg College at Oxford University and also teaches at Columbia University Law School. She has won several awards for her work.
 Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D.
Professor of Neurosurgery, Oncology,
Plastic Surgery and Pediatrics
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Author, Mentor and Philanthropist
Honorary Doctor of Science
Recently the subject of a cable movie titled Gifted Hands and starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Dr. Carson rose from an impoverished childhood in which he was considered by his peers to be the "dumbest kid in school." With the prodding of an undereducated but very wise mother, he discovered the joys of reading and learning, turned to his faith to control his anger, and began to believe in his own abilities. He continued his education, earning first a degree in psychology, and then advancing to medical school. While doing rotations in the hospital, he was often mistaken for an orderly. Dr. Carson went on to pioneer medical procedures to separate craniopagus conjoined twins and in-utero surgeries to correct hydrocephalus. At the age of 33, he became the youngest physician to head the department of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. He co-founded and oversees an educational foundation that rewards grammar school children with scholarships for academics and community service; and a grant foundation to offset the costs of neurosurgery for under- and uninsured patients.
 Prof. Dr. Eng. Ion Visa
Rector of the Transilvania University of Brasov (Romania)
Professor and Researcher
Honorary Doctor of Science
The Rector of the University of Transilvania in Romania, Dr. Visa has led the European Union in the development of education programs for sustainable and renewable energy. His vision is of global education and sharing knowledge and he has been instrumental in the development of collaborative efforts with 13 colleges and universities in Europe as well as Bloomfield College in the U.S. to promote technology in learning.
 Jamienne S. Studley, Esq.
President and CEO, Public Advocates Inc.
Jamienne S. Studley joined Public Advocates as President and CEO in 2004. Public Advocates, a California social justice law firm, challenges the systemic causes of poverty and discrimination by defending and expanding civil rights through policy advocacy, litigation, and partnership with community groups. It is currently focusing on education, transit, and housing equity, critical building block issues for communities.
Prior to this position, Commissioner Studley was President of Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and most recently Scholar-in-Residence at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She served as Deputy and Acting General Counsel to the U.S. Department of Education in the Clinton Administration, advising Secretary Riley on legal matters, including civil rights, legislation, and student aid. She led the department’s regulatory reinvention initiative and was a member of the White House Regulatory Reform Working Group. As Acting General Counsel she oversaw the department's Ethics Division, which trained all employees and advised current and former employees on ethics issues and ensured the Department's knowledge of and compliance with all ethics laws and policies.
She was also Associate Dean and Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School, where she helped establish the loan forgiveness program for graduates in public service, and Executive Director of the National Association for Law Placement, spearheading its race, gender, and sexual orientation equity programs. Commissioner Studley is a graduate of Barnard College (1972 magna cum laude) and Harvard Law School and was a member of the American Bar Association Commissions on Women in the Profession and on Loan Forgiveness and Repayment. She now serves on the boards of the Association of American Colleges & Universities, The Urban School, American Craft Council, San Francisco Museum of Craft & Design, and First Book Advisory Council. She was a member of the Harvard Law School Visiting Committee and Chair of the Equal Justice Works consumer information project advisory committee.
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