Apr 24, 2014 4 min read

Carlos Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of Automatic Data Processing Inc., one of the largest providers of business process and cloud-based solutions to employers and automotive dealerships around the world, will deliver the keynote address at Washington & Jefferson College’s 215th commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. May 17 on the lawn in front of the Olin Fine Arts Center on Wheeling Street.

More than 315 students are expected to participate.

Rodriguez will receive an honorary degree, as will Rita Colwell, distinguished university professor at the University of Maryland at College Park and Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health; Kyle Abraham, choreographer and dancer who began his dance training at the Civic Light Opera Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh; Her Excellency Dr. Rawya Saud Al Busaidi, Oman’s minister of higher education and the first woman in the Sultanate of Oman to be appointed to full ministerial rank; and Rabbi Sarah Schecther, the first female rabbi to serve as a chaplain in the active-duty U.S. Air Force. A captain in the Air Force, Schechter is currently the chaplain at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Schecther will be the keynote speaker at the baccalaureate service at 6 p.m. May 16 at Church of the Covenant on East Beau Street in Washington.

A part of ADP since 1999, Rodriguez joined the company through its acquisition of Vincam Group Inc., where he served as chief financial officer before becoming president of ADP TotalSource, a human resources outsourcing service. Under Rodriquez’s leadership, TotalSource became the fastest growing and largest professional employer organization in the industry.

In 2012, Rodriguez was named one of 10 CEOs who kept their workers happy by Business Daily News. Also that year, ADP was named to the DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity for the third year in a row.

Rodriguez holds a master of business administration and a bachelor of arts from Harvard University.

In additional to her university associations, Colwell is also a senior adviser and chairman emeritus at Canon US Life Sciences, Inc., a company with the mission to identify and then develop life science solutions with application in diagnostics and medical instrumentation, and president and chief executive officer of CosomosID, Inc., which provides data mining solutions that address issues in health and wellness. A passionate scientist, Colwell’s interests are focused on global infectious diseases, water and health. Colwell is currently developing an international network to address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including providing safe drinking water for both the developed and developing world.

With a mission to create an evocative interdisciplinary body of work, Abraham has founded his own company, Kyle Abraham/Abraham.in.Motion. Probing the relationship between identity and personal history, Abraham has a unique dance style that incorporates both traditional and vernacular dance. He includes the hip-hop and urban dance he encountered in his youth, along with a strong grounding in modern dance. Abraham’s choreography has been presented throughout the United States and abroad.

Al Busaidi has held her current position since March of 2004, when she was also appointed chair of the Sultan Qaboos University Council and deputy chair of the Council of Higher Education. Previously, Al Busaidi held the position of undersecretary at the Ministry of Higher Education.

Previously, Schechter served as the chaplain of the 11th Wing at Joint Base Andrews, Md., at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas and at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, Calif.

Schechter’s service in the Air Force began in 2002 as a chaplain candidate, second lieutenant. She was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Reserves in 2003 and entered active duty service in 2004.