Michael Meth

Interim Dean, College of Information, Data and Society

Hello. My name is Michael Meth, and I'm the Interim Dean of the College of Information, Data and Society, as well as the dean of the SJSU King Library. It is wonderful to be here with you today to celebrate the 2024 graduates, their families, friends, and loved ones, along with your professors and the staff of the college.

As is tradition in the college, we host this virtual celebration before the formal graduation ceremony that will take place next week. This is one more chance to say hi to your classmates, meet your professors and the staff who have supported you all the way throughout your studies.

And truly a celebration it is. In fact, this time of year is the highlight of my semester. To be here with you as you are at the end of your journey as students in the School of Information is the greatest of honors.

Graduates, you've worked hard. You've learned a lot. You've gathered experiences and knowledge along the way, and I have no doubt you've made some wonderful connections and gained a few friends along the way, too.

I have every faith that you are now well prepared to go out into the world and do incredible work. The degrees you have earned at SJSU, along with all that you have to offer, will present you with great opportunities in the future, opportunities in the fields that may be well established already or perhaps just on the cusp of emerging. The rapid advances in AI, robotics, and big data, to only name a few areas, will significantly impact your careers.

Along with these new areas will come questions and challenges in cybersecurity, governance of these systems and technologies, and of course, also questions about the ethical uses, and all of these technologies will touch each and every one of us in our society. However, your degrees have prepared you to be active participants in these developments. Your degrees and knowledge will put you in leadership positions in your organizations where you can guide and shape these conversations, and I'm so excited for you and our collective futures.

Before I wrap up, I want to briefly share with you that we have 483 graduates this semester in your School of Information graduating class. You are now joining an alumni network that numbers over 14,000 alumni worldwide, and Graduates, you are now part of this incredible group of alumni and professionals, too.

Please stay connected with each other, with the College of Information, Data and Society, and San Jose State University, and reach out to folks in the network.

Congratulations to all of you. Enjoy the rest of today's virtual celebration, and I hope I'll see some of you, too, next week when you walk across the stage at graduation here in San Jose on our campus.

All the best. Take care.