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The ����ֱ�� celebrated its 183rd Commencement on May 19 at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. More than 1,800 students received degrees and certificates in osteopathic medicine, dental medicine, pharmacy, health sciences, natural sciences, human services, education, management and the liberal arts.

����ֱ�� President James Herbert, Ph.D., who was inaugurated in September of 2017, expressed that the ceremony, the first ����ֱ�� Commencement at which he served as president, held special meaning for him. “I can honestly say that the best part of my job over the past year has been the opportunity to spend time with you, the ����ֱ�� students,” he said to the graduates. “I have come to know many of you personally, and my life has been enriched as a result. Thank you for welcoming me to this amazing Nor’easter community.”

Catherine A. Sanderson, the Manwell Family Professor of Life Sciences at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, served as the 2018 Commencement speaker. A prolific author of more than 25 journal articles and book chapters as well as six textbooks and a trade book on parenting (Slow and Steady Parenting), Sanderson focuses her research on how personality and social variables influence health-related behaviors such as safer sex and disordered eating; the development of persuasive messages and interventions to prevent unhealthy behavior; and the predictors of relationship satisfaction. Her latest book, The Positive Shift, describes how making relatively simple adjustments in our outlook can lead to substantial improvements in happiness, health and longevity.

Sanderson has received numerous honors and awards, has served on numerous editorial boards. In 2012, she was named one of the country’s top 300 professors by the Princeton Review. She frequently speaks on topics such as the science of happiness, the power of emotional intelligence, the mind-body connection, and the psychology of good and evil, and these talks have been featured in numerous mainstream media outlets, , including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic Monthly, and CBS Morning News with Jane Pauley.

During her Commencement address, Sanderson acknowledged that the lives ahead of the graduates will not be without hardship, but she encouraged them to search for the positive lessons that come from misfortune. “It is impossible to go through life avoiding all adversity, but we can try to recognize what difficult experiences add to our lives, and not just what they have taken away,” she stated. “And no matter our natural tendency, we can all achieve greater happiness by changing how we think about the minor, and not so minor, events in our lives.”

To learn more about ����ֱ��’s 183rd Commencement and to watch the ceremony, visit

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