One of Bradley’s own will speak at the midyear commencement ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 19 in Renaissance Coliseum.
Chuck Stoner has taught at Bradley for 35 years in the Foster College of Business’s Management and Leadership Department.
“This has pretty much been the bulk of my career, and it’s been great,” Stoner said. “The university has been very supportive. I’ve had the chance to work with great students and tremendous colleagues.”
Stoner said he chose to come to Bradley because he was impressed with the people he interviewed with.
“That was a long time ago, but I know exactly why [I chose Bradley],” Stoner said. “When I interviewed with the people here … I had a good connection. My wife even told me after I had interviewed a whole number of schools that the one I talked about the most was Bradley, and I didn’t even realize it.”
Stoner completed his undergraduate, graduate and doctoral studies at Florida State University. He said it was a big shift for him and his wife, who is a Miami native, to move to the midwest.
“We made up our mind when we came to the midwest that we would jump into it,” Stoner said. “We would love winter, and we did. We took up ice-skating and skiing … I think that really made a big difference.”
Stoner said he has not yet planned his commencement address.
“They asked me for a title … and I think I called it, ‘Another Side of the Story,'” Stoner said. “It will have to be a message that is consistent with the way I teach, and I teach by using stories to kind of pull people into the points I make. The key thing is that it has to be brief, so the students can be assured that I know that. But I hope it can be engaging … and I hope it’s presented in a way that will be fun and uplifting.”
