In a world with many distractions, it is worthwhile “to make time for things that take time,” said CBS newsman Jeff Glor, speaking at Suffolk University undergraduate commencement exercises on Sunday, May 22, 2011, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Glor, who spoke of the decisions and hard work that led to his success as a journalist, told the the College of Arts and Sciences and Sawyer Business School graduates: “Your life is a marathon, not a sprint.”

“I know today all of us are surrounded by information, by potential pursuits, right? Friends, family, TV, magazines, books, cell phones, Blackberries, online, Facebook, Twitter, so much more,” Glor said. “There’s always a reason to avoid books, a reason to avoid the things that take time. … Your education does not stop today. You can get lost in a book and emerge a different person.”

Glor said that the graduates can expect mistakes along the course of their lives, “but keep going, keep learning … if mistakes happen, don’t fold.”

Suffolk University honored Glor with an honorary Doctor of Journalism degree.

Acting President and Provost Barry Brown told graduates: “Our humanity is shaped by our ability to dream, to imagine, to create and to recreate. The process is not perfect and is fraught with failure, but our ability to dream, conceive and imagine a better world moves us – in fits and starts, inch by inch – to a better life for all women and men.”

Honorary Degrees

In addition to honoring Glor, the College of Arts and Sciences and Sawyer Business School awarded the following honorary degrees:

• Peter H. Smyth, chairman and chief executive officer of Greater Media, Inc., honorary Doctor of Commerce
• Joaquín Almunia, a vice president of the European Commission, the EU Executive branch, honorary Doctor of Economics
• Joseph Corcoran, chairman, Corcoran Jennison Companies, honorary Doctor of Business Administration
• Jeanette G. Clough, president and CEO, Mount Auburn Hospital, honorary Doctor of Business Administration
• Marshall M. Sloane, chairman of the board, Century Bank, honorary Doctor of Business Administration

The Law School awarded the following honorary degrees:

• William “Bill” Bratton, a security expert who has led the nation’s largest police departments, honorary Doctor of Laws
• Rikki Klieman, television personality and trial attorney, honorary Doctor of Laws
• David Z. Chesnoff, Esquire, Goodman and Chesnoff, honorary Doctor of Laws
• The Honorable John E. Fenton, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Law and former dean of Suffolk Law School, retired Chief Administrative Justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court, honorary Doctor of Laws
• The Honorable Therese Murray, president of the Senate of the Commonwealth, honorary Doctor of Laws

About Jeff Glor

Glor is a onetime WHDH-Boston television reporter who now is news anchor for "The Early Show" on CBS. As a CBS News national correspondent, Glor has covered events ranging from the earthquake in Haiti to the Beijing Olympic Games. Before taking over “The Early Show” anchor desk, Glor was anchor of the Saturday edition of the “CBS Evening News” and a national correspondent for all CBS News broadcasts. He was embedded with U.S. soldiers in Iraq, where he conducted a one-on-one interview with Gen. David Petraeus when he was the top commander of the multinational force there. Glor covered the primaries leading up to the 2008 presidential election as the chief campaign correspondent for “The Early Show” and was a lead member of the CBS News team that covered Pope Benedict’s historic visits to Washington, D.C., and New York City.

As the weekend evening news anchor and a weekday reporter for WHDH-TV Boston, he covered local news as well as national and international news stories, including the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens; the death of Pope John Paul II; and the hearings on steroid use in Major League Baseball.

Before coming to Boston, Glor was the co-anchor of WSTM-TV Syracuse's 5 p.m. newscast, a reporter for the 11 p.m. newscast, and the morning news anchor. Glor had begun his journalism career as the station’s news writer, while attending college. While in Syracuse, he was named "Best Male News Anchor" by the Syracuse New Times. He also served as a contributing researcher and writer on The Legal Handbook for N.Y. State Journalists.

Glor graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University with dual degrees in Journalism and Economics from the College of Arts and Sciences. He was awarded the Henry J. Wolff prize, given to the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications student "most proficient in journalism."