UI Dec. 14 Commencement: Former eBay Leader Says 'Invent Your Own Future,' President’s Medal Awarded to Arboretum Developer
Saturday, December 14 2002
Dec. 14, 2002^MOSCOW - University of Idaho Commencement speaker and former eBay developer J. Richard Rock challenged more than 700 mid-year graduates and several thousand of their fans today in the Kibbie Dome to “begin inventing your future or accept someone else’s vision for it.”^Despite high unemployment, a struggling economy and uncertain geo-political environment, “slow, uncertain times are actually the best times to prepare for the future. People don’t burden you with unrealistic expectations,” he suggested.^The 31-year-old Coeur d’Alene native, whose success paralleled the e-commerce world of eBay, recounted Washington Irving’s circa 1800 story of Rip Van Winkle. He slept through 20 years to avoid responsibilities and awoke to the outcomes of others’ visions.^Rock conjured up a modern-day Rip Van Winkle who, after a 20-year sleep, would have awakened to the Internet, Microsoft, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon, Word Processing, PowerPoint, Pentiums and flat screen monitors . . . CDs, DVDs, Napster, Bear Share . . the Human Genome project, stem cells, biotechnology and advances in medicine akin to science fiction.^ “He would discover that the Soviet Union no longer is the Evil Empire but an ally to the U.S. to fight new terrorists. The Berlin Wall has fallen and many of the Warsaw-Pact nations have joined NATO, which is less of a military alliance and more a league of nations committed to freedom. And what about the Persian Gulf War, AIDS, Ecstasy, Chernobyl, Exxon Valdez, Sept. 11, Osama Bin Laden, A DOW Jones industrial average of over 8000, or the Department of Homeland Security?^ Rock urged the graduates to be agents of change in the next two decades. “Who will crack the secrets of our genetic code and cure cancer? Who will develop a clean fuel alternative and free our economy from dependence on foreign oil? Who will find a way to deliver desperately needed vitamins and vaccines to third-world children?^“Who are the diplomats who will find a lasting peace in the Middle East? . . .the military leaders who will defeat terror? Who among you will rise up to restore justice in the courtroom and ethics in the boardroom? Who will pioneer a new, more effective education system for our children, and design electric cars, mass transit systems and personal airplanes? Who will find ways to live peacefully with nature? Who will be the poets and writers to chronicle our continuing pursuit of peace and prosperity?”^ UI President Bob Hoover in his introduction said Rock “exemplifies the UI spirit and its motto that ‘From Here You Can Go Anywhere.’ He’s remarkable because in less than 10 years after graduating from UI, he became a pioneer in a new field.” ^The 1994 UI finance alum and former student body president went on to earn an MBA from Stanford in 1996. In1997 he began as business development director for eBay and became general manager for its real estate division. He helped grow its skyrocketing customer base until 2001. Rock, a San Jose resident, now heads XIAN Advisors, LLC, and consults startup ventures in bio-technology about business and marketing strategies. For example, he’s helping a current client, Tessera Diagnostics, bring to market a non-invasive detection process for prostate cancer.^Also at the Commencement, Hoover presented the President’s Medallion to Richard J. Naskali, director and developer of UI's Arboretum and Botanical Garden “for significant contributions to the advancement of Idaho and its people.”^“One of its showpieces of the UI campus is its 63-acre Arboretum and Botanical Garden. Its evolution has been an intensive labor of love by Director Richard J. Naskali,” read the citation. “His creative and physical efforts for 15 years have transformed undeveloped land into a specimen-rich landscape now popular for weddings, literary readings, outdoor concerts, nature walks, picnics and meditation for the campus and community.”^ Naskali earned a doctoral degree in botany from Ohio State University in 1969, and began his career at UI 35 years ago in botany and plant anatomy. After 20 years of teaching, research and greenhouse management, he became director of the Arboretum in 1987. His driving goal was to fulfill the master plan for the arboretum to become a living-learning classroom. Today, plants from Asia, North America and Europe, display gardens, ponds, pathways, benches and commemorative groves and plantings fill the site.^ The 714 mid-year graduates – 488 bachelors, 170 masters, 5 specialists, 13 law, and 38 doctoral degree earners – push the number of total UI graduates over 113 years to 80,623.^Contacts: University Communications, (208) 885-6291, uinews@uidaho.edu; J. Richard Rock, Rock@xianadvisors.com; Richard Naskali, (208) 885-6250, naskali@uidaho.edu^Commencement photos are at www.today.uidaho.edu/photo_list.asp^An audio version of Rock's speech is on UI's home page, www.its.uidaho.edu; videotapes and DVDs of the entire Commencement may be ordered through the UI Video Center (208) 885-0569 or videoctr@uidaho.edu^-30-^NH-12/14/02-ADM/STS/ARB^
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