Featured today in Inside Higher Ed is a fun little story and YouTube video of Hamilton College Dean of Faculty Pat Reynolds reading names during commencement.
Its dean of the faculty, Pat Reynolds, has been timed, and he reads the names of the nearly 500 graduates faster than any of his predecessors in the last 25 years. Hamilton knows this because an emeritus professor of biology, Ernest Williams, has been timing the reading of names for that long. And he certifies that Reynolds — who some years gets in about 15 names a minute — is far speedier than any of the five other deans Williams timed.
His opening remarks to asking for decorum during the proceedings is quite amusing as well.