Florida Tech Holds Summer Commencement July 30
FPL’s Bart Gaetjens to Offer Keynote Address
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Florida Tech will confer more than 700 degrees at its summer commencement on July 30 at Clemente Center.
The ceremony starts at 9:30 a.m. and will feature both undergraduate and graduate students from the Melbourne campus, off-campus sites and online. More than 450 students are scheduled to cross the stage. Among the graduates will be 67 from off-campus sites and 179 who earned their degrees online.
Graduates hail from 38 countries.
Bart Gaetjens, an area external affairs manager for Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), will offer remarks as the ceremony’s keynote speaker. A longtime resident of Titusville, Gaetjens has worked for FPL for over 39 years.
He recently served as the United Way of Brevard campaign chair and serves as the current chair for the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast. He serves on the executive boards of Brevard’s Business Voice (PAC) and the United Way of Brevard and is chair of the Brevard Nature Alliance, In addition, he is a board member of The Manufacturing Association of Florida, Junior Achievement of the Space Coast, the Titusville YMCA, the Titusville Chamber of Commerce (past chair), Indian River County Chamber of Commerce and LEAD Brevard, where he was recognized with the “Distinguished Alumni” honor in 2020.
Interim President Robert L. King will serve as host of the ceremony. A national leader in higher education and former chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), he arrived on campus in mid-July. King most recently was assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, serving from 2019 until January 2021. Prior to his service with the federal government, he led the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education as president for 10 years, and before that led SUNY as system chancellor for 5 ½ years.
Early in his career, King worked as a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office in San Luis Obispo, California, and the district attorney’s office in Rochester, New York, and later served three terms in the New York state legislature.
For more commencement information, galleries from past commencements and a link to the live stream of the ceremony, visit www.fit.edu/graduation/summer-commencement/.
Media interested in access are asked to contact Director of Media Communications Adam Lowenstein at adam@fit.edu or 321-674-8964 no later than noon Friday, July 29.
