June always holds a special meaning for me. It’s a time of new beginnings and excitement. This past Saturday, I was honored to personally congratulate over 600 students of the 2,300 degree recipients who came to Key Arena to participate in the North American commencement ceremony. They came from places near and far. Some came as far away as Syria, China, and Mexico. Others joined us from Canada and right here in the Seattle area. As I posed for pictures with many of our students, I could see how proud their families and friends were of their accomplishments.




As we celebrated their successes, we also recognized Dr. Michael Riley with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. Dr. Riley is the former superintendent of the Bellevue School District, and a true advocate of education. He spoke about his experience in significantly enriching the academic achievement of underprivileged children in the inner city high schools in Chicago, and how he was able to translate that knowledge and experience in developing the Bellevue School District’s success in having one of the highest percentage of students, particularly minority students, taking advanced placement classes, a very impressive accomplishment indeed.




CityU also honored retired Dean of the Albright School of Education, Dr. Margaret Davis, by conferring upon her the title of Dean Emeritus. Dr. Davis, a member of the CityU of Seattle faculty for many years, tirelessly worked to promote diversity in classroom. Under her leadership, the university initiated the Albright School of Education Diversity Committee, and the university funded a substantial amount of scholarships for teaching candidates of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, Eastern European and other ethnic cultural decent. As a result of her efforts, last year CityU graduated the largest number of minority certificated teachers in the state of Washington.




Both Dr. Riley and Dr. Davis are great examples of how one person can make a difference in the lives of children.

During the ceremony, we were also inspired by CityU student Channdara Sos. Channdara came to the United States two years ago from Cambodia, and is the first in his family to earn a college degree. After two years of hard work and perseverance he was able to realize his dream of earning his MBA. As he spoke about his triumphs and challenges, his parents, who traveled from Cambodia to be with him at graduation, looked on with pride from the audience. Channdara said it so well when he said, “You have worked so hard and come a long way through struggle, procrastination, frustration, and for some of you being homesick. For your long-awaited and meaningful achievement, this moment belongs to you. I’m sure as you walk through the celebration of your success today, you will relish in the magnitude of what you have gained during your time at CityU and your journey thus far." He concluded his presentation by thanking his parents in his and their native tongue.




I salute Channdara and the rest of the graduates and am proud of their success. Congratulations to all CityU graduates.

It was beautiful in Bulgaria. The weather was gorgeous, and the tree-covered mountains were stunning against the clear blue sky.




Commencement in Pravetz began with 20 primary school children dressed in caps and gowns performing a traditional Bulgarian dance. The auditorium was full as I addressed the graduates, their friends and families. As the ceremony got underway, we were all reminded that English is truly the international language of commerce and science. The Rector of our partner International Business School spoke in Bulgarian, the communicant speaker spoke in English and Bulgarian, the MBA valedictorian spoke in Bulgarian, and the BSBA valedictorian spoke in flawless English. Her fellow graduates all laughed when she referred to frequent power outages that often happened before important examinations. Evidently, this has been an all too frequent occurrence. The town mayor was on the stage and looked somewhat sheepish, but the student speaker went on to say how nicely the community treated the students, and that Pravetz had become their second home.




During the ceremony, I had the pleasure of introducing several senior government officials including the Deputy Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament. I was pleased to learn from him that CityU was thought of highly among his colleagues and in general. Coming from someone who in his day job is a professor of biology, I took it as a real compliment.




We all listened intently when the commencement speaker told us of the important role higher education plays as Bulgaria prepares to join and integrate into the European Union. As we are developing two new masters and two new undergraduate programs in Bulgaria, I’m honored to know that CityU has a role in the development of a truly global marketplace.

It’s now late Monday afternoon and I’m off to Cyprus to discuss our partnership in Romania. Then, it’s on to Bratislava for two more commencement ceremonies.

I landed in Vienna Thursday afternoon on my way to Bratislava for commencement. As host of the immensely popular Euro Cup soccer tournament, Vienna was beaming with soccer excitement. In fact the influx of soccer fans delayed my flight, with more than 100 additional flights coming into the Vienna airport.

Upon landing, I was picked up by our Slovakian hosts who were able to take us to Bratislava in 40 minutes via the newly constructed inter-country highway. This new highway connects many of the European Union member countries and made this trip fast and uneventful.




I checked into my hotel in the heart of Bratislava's "old town" (as in thousands of years old), and later strolled to a pub to watch Spain defeat Russia in a semi-final soccer match. Interestingly, most of the Slovaks were rooting for the Spaniards, who won the match and advanced to the championship against Germany (Spain beat Germany 1-0).

Friday evening I attended the annual end-of-year dinner for faculty and staff in Bratislava. It provided me the opportunity to meet many of our colleagues and to thank them for another successful academic year.




Immediately prior to the first commencement on Saturday morning, I met with several graduates to discuss their experiences with CityU. I always enjoy hearing first-hand their experiences, and take to heart their feedback, whether good or bad. I look forward to sharing their thoughts with my colleagues back home.

As I arrived at the auditorium I looked around the room and saw more than 600 family members and friends smiling in anticipation of watching their loved ones graduate. I was honored to confer more than 180 degrees upon the graduates who participated in commencement. The bilingual ceremony was delivered in Slovak and English with the commencement speaker, a successful electronics retailer, reminding students of the importance of hard work, determination, and perseverance.




To accommodate another 150 graduates, families, and friends, a second commencement was held in the afternoon for the students who studied for the Slovak only degree. I was privileged to don my cap and gown again and participate in the commencement of the VSM students.

That evening, I celebrated with colleagues by having a delicious dinner at an outdoor restaurant on the banks of the wide and swift Danube River. As we sat and enjoyed the conversation and view, a local wedding party band serenaded us with Beatles songs. The evening was capped with an extraordinary display of fireworks that the American embassy will have difficulty matching on the Fourth of July.




A very busy and fulfilling week is complete and I am back in Vienna waiting for a Delta Airlines flight to carry me for 10 hours and 15 minutes to Atlanta and then to a connecting final flight back to back Seattle.

I left Seattle on a Hainan Airlines direct non-stop flight to Beijing and arrived eleven hours later at one of Beijing’s three major terminals, one of which is the largest in the world. I checked into the Kerry Hotel and held the first of several meetings with City University of Seattle personnel based in China. The next day, I awoke to blue skies (which is somewhat unusual for Beijing), the temperature was comfortable, in the high 50’s, and knew it would be a good day. My day started with a meeting with U.S. Embassy personnel in a café near the new Embassy. I wanted to personally thank them for assisting CityU of Seattle’s Chinese students obtain their student VISA’s. Later in the day CityU staff and I finalized an agreement with the China Scholarship Council to recruit Chinese students to study in Seattle, Washington, and to help CityU find partner universities in China who may wish to send students to CityU.




Saturday morning was the first of two CityU commencements both of which were hosted in the ballroom of the new, luxurious hotel built by our partner university, the Beijing University of Technology. In the first ceremony 80 students who work in China’s airline industry and are sponsored by the Boeing Company were conferred MBA degree by CityU. All of the degree recipients work full time so it was a great opportunity for them to celebrate with their families. The occasion was capped with lots of individual photos as well as the traditional group photo, which attempted to capture the tossing of caps.




I enjoyed an extensive and delicious traditional Chinese lunch with our university partners after which, we proceeded directly to the second Commencement ceremony. There, 110 excited adults and their families gathered to participate in and witness the conferral of the MBA degree. This is clearly one of the best aspects of my job. Before conferring the degrees I congratulated China for successfully hosting the magnificent 2008 Summer Olympics and for just successfully concluding the country’s recent space launch. I went on to urge them to be good stewards as China and the world confront the challenges of climate change. Ms Yuanyuan spoke eloquently on behalf of the graduating class and said the whole experience had for her been truly transformative.




Following the ceremonies the I flew to the beautiful coastal city of Dalian with my colleagues Chancellor Fernando Leon Garcia, and Yanan Xu. With only six million inhabitants Dalian is considered a medium sized city. Like every Chinese city I have visited, most of the buildings are new and architecturally very attractive. The campus we visited, the Dalian University of Foreign Languages, is brand new in its entirety. Built to accommodate 20,000 students with all students required to live on campus so it is a new community. The campus visit was followed by a business meeting conducted over another exquisite meal. Honestly, this is how business is conducted in China. Quite civilized I must say.




In the evening, following a beautiful tour of the city, I returned to Beijing and Chancellor Leon and Ms. Xu flew to Guangzhou for two additional university meetings. Monday morning, before leaving for my return flight to Seattle, I visited the "Bird’s nest" and the "Cube," two of the spectacular venues built especially for the 2008 Olympics and I am glad I did. Photos are posted with this blog to give you some sense of the marvelous structures. I am now on the long flight home.

I can honestly say, I am delighted CityU has programs and partners in China and without question China is a sight to behold.

Michael Riley served as the superintendent of the Bellevue School District in Washington State for twelve years, leaving this past December to become Senior Vice President of College Readiness Systems for The College Board. Riley’s division at The College Board is dedicated to helping urban school districts enable all their students to become college ready through the implementation of comprehensive reform strategies.

During his time in Bellevue, Riley’s mission was developing the curriculum, staff development programs, and student support systems to give every student the type of education that ensures success in college. Eighty-five percent of the district’s Class of 2007 completed at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate course; fifty percent completed four or more.

Riley taught English for twelve years and was an assistant principal in Chicago. He served as a high school principal for nine years and as an assistant superintendent for three during his time in Maryland. He holds a master’s degree in English from DePaul University and a Ph.D. in educational administration with a concentration in research from Loyola University Chicago. He is married to a retired special education teacher and administrator, and his daughter is photo editor for the Human Society of United States.

Valentin Zlatev is one busy man. As general manager of Lukoil Bulgaria—a major producer and exporter of fuels, petrochemicals, and polymers in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Balkans, not to mention the largest company in Bulgaria—he is responsible for the company’s impressive growth and sizeable expansion over the last 12 years.

Today, the company contributes an annual net profit of $1.5 billion to the state budget from its exports of electricity throughout Europe. It also generates nine percent of Bulgaria’s GDP and approximately 25 percent of all budget revenues. Much of the company’s success is due to its highly skilled team of traders of crude oil and refined petroleum products. "Our experienced traders have extensive knowledge of the Balkan and South European markets," Zlatev notes. Yet even with his highly demanding job, Zlatev finds time to support other interests dear to him—namely athletics and academics. "It’s company policy to support sport activities in the countries where it operates," says Zlatev.

Zlatev also is president of the highly successful and widely popular Lukoil Academic Basketball Club. Although proud of the club’s track record on the court, Zlatev is equally proud of his team members’ academic report card. "In recent years all the players have been either college graduates or are attending college. The club encourages the education of its players," Zlatev explains. Zlatev shares City University of Seattle’s mission of providing global access to education. His personal and financial organizational support, in fact, helped CityU of Seattle start Bulgarian classroom education for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Program there, which ensures both a Bulgarian and an American diploma/degree to its graduates.

"The program is based on the principle that students will have more qualifications with an intensive education and access to real working conditions and experience," says Zlatev, who was awarded an honorary doctorate by CityU of Seattle at the University’s 2003 graduation ceremony. The award recognized the major contributions he has made to Bulgarian students over the years. Zlatev was pivotal in constructing the most contemporary student campuses in Bulgaria, located in the cities of Pravetz and Sofia, where CityU has two sites. Zlatev’s passion for education—and students’ future success in business—doesn’t stop there. Lukoil Bulgaria has granted seven scholarships to talented students and provides top students from the CityU of Seattle program in Bulgaria with an opportunity to complete an internship at Lukoil. "The students of CityU are its greatest asset," says Zlatev. "They are the heart and soul of the University, and I am proud to support them."

Please check back later for updates!

Please check back later for updates!