Thirty members of Duquesne University’s MBA Sustainability Program will be inspired at their graduation ceremony by globe-trotting environmentalist Paula DiPerna.

One of the most respected strategic global environmental and philanthropic policy advisors and writers in her field, DiPerna will be the keynote speaker at Duquesne’s eighth MBA Sustainability diploma ceremony on Friday, July 3, at 2 p.m. in the Power Center.

A leader of many notable organizations, DiPerna has guided the international division of the Chicago Climate Exchange, the Joyce Foundation and the Cousteau Society. An explorer, frequent public speaker and academic panelist, DiPerna also is a guest lecturer and teacher.

“We are thrilled to have Paula DiPerna with us as our commencement speaker,” said Dr. Robert Sroufe, Murrin Chair of Global Competitiveness in Duquesne’s John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business. “As a strategic global environmental advisor to the CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) and other leading sustainability organizations, she will be sharing first-hand information on carbon pricing, finance and investing, while also connecting our students and MBA Sustainability program to global organizations actively reimagining the future of business management.”

Duquesne’s MBA Sustainability program has been ranked first in the United States and eighth in the world for integrating sustainability into the curriculum by Corporate Knights, a quarterly international publication focused on social, economic and ecological benefits and costs.

This graduating cohort's fall theme, Designing the Corporation of the Future, and the overarching emphasis of the program focus on re-designing the future of business and calls for systems and business models that align practices with the diverse interests of society, the environment and shareholders.

“During this cohort’s lifetime, these individuals and their generation will rewire the entire world with clean energy, redesign sustainable cities and high performing buildings, upcycle products as part of a circular economy, reimagine the global food system and reinvent transportation,” said Sroufe. “They will create millions of jobs, help lift billions of people out of poverty, protect integrity in creation and shape a just and prosperous future. The Duquesne MBA Sustainability lays the foundation for this work.”

For more information, visit Duquesne University’s MBA Sustainability Program webpage.

7/27/2015