Haverhill, MA (March 11, 2025)– Planning for the 63rd annual Commencement Ceremony at Northern Essex Community College is underway. The event will be held on the Haverhill Campus on Saturday, May 17, at 11 a.m. More than 500 students and their families will gather for the occasion.

Bob Pozen is this year’s featured speaker

This year’s featured speaker will be Robert (Bob) Pozen, a renowned finance and public policy expert and best-selling author. Pozen is currently a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“Beyond his distinguished roles in both the public and private sectors, Bob has demonstrated a generous, steadfast commitment to helping community college students to succeed,” said NECC President Lane Glenn. “He has inspired and led practical research focused on enhancing student retention and degree completion by addressing student basic needs, with an eye toward the future and influencing national public policy and investment. I look forward to Bob sharing his insights and guidance with the Class of 2025.”

Pozen was an executive at Fidelity Investments from 1987 to 2001, eventually rising to vice chairman of the company and president of FMR Co., the investment adviser to Fidelity’s mutual funds. In 2004, he became chairman of MFS Investment Management. In late 2001 and 2002, Pozen served on President Bush’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security, and in 2003, served as Secretary of Economic Affairs for Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. In 2007, he served as chairman of the SEC’s Committee to Improve Financial Reporting.

Pozen published his book “Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours” in 2012, which he developed into a course for corporations around the globe as well as for the MIT Executive Education program. Since then, Pozen has become a sought-after lecturer in productivity. In addition to MIT, he has taught at Georgetown, NYU, and Harvard.

Pozen graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and obtained a law degree from Yale Law School where he was a member of the editorial board of the Yale Law Journal.

The 63rd annual Commencement Ceremony will also feature a student speaker selected by faculty and staff and the presentation of awards, including the Social Justice Award and Emeritus.

To learn more about commencement, visit the website.

Northern Essex Community College, the first Federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution in New England, is an education leader for the Merrimack Valley. Through a supportive learning environment and cultural inclusion, NECC embraces all identities and inspires initiative and excellence through top-notch, affordable certificate and associate degree programs online and at campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence. NECC offers many bachelor’s degree transfer options, workforce development, and community education classes and hosts the NECC Police Academy, MassHire Merrimack Valley, and Gallaudet University’s Regional Center for the deaf and hard of hearing. Visit Northern Essex online at www.necc.mass.edu.