Even though he has only two weeks to prepare, the keynote speaker for autumn commencement is still relaxed.
“I received a late call from Provost Ed Ray,” said Kenneth Lee. Lee is the chair of food science and technology. “In tight budgetary times, you don’t say no to the provost.”
The speaker President William “Brit” Kirwan had lined up needed to have bypass surgery and decided to postpone his speech, Lee said.
“I feel like I now know what Craig Krenzel must have went through, but Craig’s task was much more challenging,” Lee said.
Lee graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in food science in 1975, and he went on to earn his doctorate in food science and nutrition from the University of Massachusetts in 1980. Lee came to Ohio State in 1990 from the Department of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
An expert in his field, Lee has written more than 50 articles for scientific journals.
Lee leads the Department of Food Science and Technology in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in teaching and research efforts.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity and I’m looking forward to it,” Lee said of his commencement speech. “It’s like being given keys to a castle or keys to a Ferrari and being told to just drive.”
Lee said that most commencement speeches are part inspiration, part advice and part prediction.
“I’m not so pompous to predict the future, and I’m not one to give advice,” Lee said. “If I can give one idea that someone can take with them and run with it, my speech will be successful.”
Autumn commencement will be at 9:30 a.m. in St. John Arena on Dec. 7.
