WAYNE, N.J. — Christopher R. Blake, Ph.D., the Joseph Keating, S.J., Distinguished Professor of Finance at Fordham University’s College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Business Administration, delivered the graduate address at William Paterson University’s 183rd Commencement in Wayne, N.J., on Tuesday, May 16, and was honored at the ceremony with the University President’s Medal. Arnold Speert, president of William Paterson, bestowed the medal on Blake, who graduated summa cum laude from the university (then William Paterson College) with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1983.
“You graduates have the gifts of dedication and capacity for hard work, which have served you well and have resulted in your obtaining your advanced degrees today. Do not squander those gifts by losing your integrity,” Blake said in his address. “Remember this: if you lose your integrity, it is gone forever. … So nourish your integrity and cherish it, because all of your accomplishments in the world are meaningless without it.”
Blake is a co-developer of the Investment Portfolio, Windows-based portfolio-management software, and has served on the program committees of the European Finance Association and the Portuguese Finance Network. He earned master’s degrees in business administration and philosophy, and a doctoral degree in finance from New York University.
