2005 Yale SOM Commencement

Families and friends of Yale SOM’s Class of 2005 gathered on Monday, May 23rd, to celebrate as the 236 members of the class received their MBA degrees.

The Yale SOM ceremonies took place in Caulkins Courtyard with Jeffrey E. Garten, in his last official duty as Dean, and the faculty presiding. Linda Mason '80 joined the platform party; Ms. Mason is Chair of the Yale SOM Board of Advisors, and Chairman of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, recognized in Fortune magazine as one of the "Best 100 Companies to Work For."

Yale SOM’s commencement speaker was Joshua Bekenstein YC '80, and a member of the Yale SOM Board of Advisors. Mr. Bekenstein is a Managing Director of Bain Capital, Inc., a leading global private investment firm in Boston that he formed in 1984 with colleagues from Bain & Company. In addition to Mr. Bekenstein’s involvement with Yale SOM, he serves on the Yale University President’s Council, the Yale Corporation Investment Committee, and is one of the co-chairs of Yale’s multibillion capital campaign. Dean Garten introduced Mr. Bekenstein, a valued supporter of Yale SOM, Yale, and a wide array of Boston area nonprofits, as a leader in both business and society, and a fitting speaker for the Class of 2005.

Chosen by a vote of his class, the Student Speaker for the Class of 2005 was Gerardo Garcia Lopez, a native of Mexico. Not only an excellent student, Gerardo found time to be an active member of the Yale SOM Soccer Club. In coming to Yale SOM with a strong financial background, as evidenced by Gerardo's last position in investing international reserves at the Mexican Central Bank, he landed his summer internship at Yale with Professor Robert J. Shiller, a fellow of the International Center for Finance.