FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MANHATTAN COLLEGE HONORED NYACK, NEW YORK, RESIDENT JOHN P. LAWLER ’55 AT ANNUAL ACADEMIC EVENT

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College recently presented alumnus and board chair Dr. John P. Lawler ’55 with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at this year’s Fall Honors Convocation. The event was held Sunday, October 17 on campus in the College’s Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers. During the ceremony, some 70 seniors were inducted into prestigious Epsilon Sigma Pi, the oldest college-wide honor society on campus.

Epsilon Sigma Pi recognizes seniors who have earned at least a 3.5 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for six consecutive semesters with no academic failures.

In his acceptance speech, Dr. Lawler, a top environmental engineer, spoke about how a Catholic college contributes its religious perspective to the intellectual and moral development of its students. He said, “To me, there are two primary elements of a Catholic college education: one, God is real and present in our lives; two, we have to make a response.” He asked the audience, “What should our response be?” Dr. Lawler referred to scripture, what he called “the love commandment – love God, your neighbor and yourself” for an answer. He goes on to say that this practice of the love commandment, which includes developing one’s talents to the utmost, is “an every day, in every way thing – in your job, with your family, with your friends, and with anyone you come in contact with.” He said that this ideal should be reflected in every person’s life in every aspect as they use their talents and education. “This is what I learned from Manhattan College, and I hope that students today and in the future come away with as well,” he said.

Dr. Lawler is consultant to Lawler, Matusky & Skelly Engineers, an environmental engineering consulting firm in Pearl River, N.Y. The firm has four decades of experience in the assessment and design of natural and man-altered aspects of the environment. Dr. Lawler was appointed chairman of the board at Manhattan in 1993, and is finishing his final year in this position. As a trustee, he served as chair of the academic affairs committee. He also was a leading member of the strategic planning and the Catholic identity committees and has served on the board executive committee since 1991. A longtime supporter of Catholic higher education, Dr. Lawler was a member of the board of trustees at St. Thomas Aquinas College for 25 years, including a two-year term as board chair. He is currently an honorary trustee member of the board at St. Thomas, which elected him to the post in 2002.

Along with Dr. Lawler, who earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the College in 1955, four additional trustee members were honored for their years of dedicated service to Manhattan. Michael F. Bette ’59, George F. Knapp ’53, Valentine A. Lehr ’62 and John L. Paluszek ’55 also were awarded honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees at the Fall Honors Convocation.

Manhattan College was founded in 1853 in the Lasallian heritage of excellence in teaching inspired by the Christian Brothers. The College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of study in the area of the arts, business, education, engineering and science.

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