Embrace change in your careers and take a lead in fighting against the media "shock jocks" who play to people's fears, said Ron Harris-Warrick, Cornell professor of neurobiology and behavior, a Weiss presidential fellow and Cornell's first Menschel distinguished teaching fellow, in addressing 273 Ph.D. candidates and their families at the 18th annual Ph.D. recognition ceremony in Barton Hall May 29.

"Be fearless in regard to change," he exhorted.

While much of the change in research is slow and steady, allowing ever-deeper exploration of a problem, some change is monumental, he said, completely changing our understanding of such complex subjects as the universe, the genome and the brain.

"Our brains are wired for change, and this can drive your excitement in the scholarly life that you've chosen for yourselves, to see both incremental and paradigm-shifting changes in your fields," he said. "So my first advice to you is to embrace change and growth in your areas of research. Second, during our lives as scholars, we must embrace change in the way we live and the jobs we hold."

He noted that many of the scholars in the audience would likely change their academic focus, perhaps even their fields, as he did in switching to neuroscience from genetics. "Do not feel yourself limited by what you're doing or know now; be willing to leap into new and untested waters," he said.

He also warned the young scholars that they would likely encounter people who would challenge their expertise and resist scientific explanations on such issues as global warming or energy policy. "Television and radio shock jocks attack scholars who have spent their lives understanding the intricacies of an area. ... Be leaders not only in developing the changes that will benefit our society but be leaders on the attack against willful ignorance toward change," he said.

Cornell President David Skorton's opening remarks also focused on change. "Regardless of your field, you have learned how to inquire, how to think in new ways and how to formulate questions and formulate ways to answer those questions," he said.

Graduates, too, were focused on change, with new futures just ahead, while their backgrounds were from both near and far. Tolulope Badders, who was born in Ithaca while her father Olu Lafe, Ph.D. '81, civil and environmental engineering, was working toward his doctorate, was now receiving a Ph.D. in regional science. Inspired by him and the many others who have seen her through "this long journey," she said she hoped to find work in development, perhaps through the United Nations. And Luyuang Quin, receiving a Ph.D. in applied economics and management, said that her father came from China just to see her graduate. "This is a big day, a great achievement for me," she said.