[box]Guy Adami, managing director of optionMonster and an original member of “Fast Money” on CNBC, addresses students at the first of two graduate commencement exercises Saturday at Quinnipiac University. Photo by Mark Stanczak.[/box]
Quinnipiac University conferred 825 graduate degrees Saturday during two ceremonies held in the TD Bank Sports Center.
Guy Adami, managing director of optionMonster and an original member of “Fast Money” on CNBC, received an honorary degree and addressed the 527 students who earned graduate degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Communications andSchool of Education.
In the second ceremony, Linda Schwartz, commissioner of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, accepted an honorary degree and addressed the 298 students who earned graduate degrees from the School of Health Sciences and School of Nursing.
Adami urged the graduates not to be paralyzed by fear. He told the students about Sir James Goldsmith, a larger than life billionaire and legend in the finance industry. Goldsmith, who was a client of AIG when Adami worked there, was so important that AIG set up a separate phone line for Goldsmith to use when he needed to contact AIG.
“The entire desk would stop their activities when Sir James called and there was only one person allowed to answer his line,” Adami said. “On this particular day, the anointed phone answerer was off the desk when Sir James called. Panic ensued. Nobody knew what to do. So in the maelstrom, I answered the phone and said, ‘Hello, Sir James, this is Guy Adami. I am the gold trader here. What can I help you with today?’”
That phone call resulted in Adami and Goldsmith forging a close relationship. “Be it youthful exuberance, lack of intelligence or some combination of the two, I trusted my instincts and made the decision to answer the call. I was not going to let fear paralyze me.”
During her address, Schwartz lauded two measures recently enacted by the Connecticut legislature to improve health care in state. She applauded the bill that no longer requires advanced practice registered nurses, who have been licensed and practicing in collaboration with a physician for at least three years, to have a written agreement with a physician.
“While this may seem to some to be a giant leap for autonomy, it is well known that the Department of Defense has utilized flight nurses, APRNs and nurse anesthetists as the chief medical authority in combat situations, disasters and remote assignments with great efficacy, efficiency and effectiveness,” Schwartz said. “
The second bill requiring hospitals in Connecticut to ask each patient it admits, “Have You Ever Serviced in the Military?” is a real game changer, Schwartz said. “This will help identify veterans who may not know that they have been exposed to hazardous conditions and substances associated with their military service that may be linked to some of the health problems they are experiencing,” she said. “This is not a ‘veteran only’ issue. This program is a public health awareness effort to assist providers in identifying veterans and their families in their practice and assisting them to provide the best assessments, preventive measures and highest quality of care.”
A photo gallery from today’s commencement ceremonies.