Selected to deliver the valedictory address at Fairfield University's first graduate student commencement, Robert T. Morton, Jr. of Monroe, Conn., took the opportunity to urge his fellow graduates to look beyond these dire financial times and see them as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks.

"No matter from what school you are graduating, we all have a monumental challenge in front of us," Morton told the other 357 graduates. "If there is one thing that I have learned in the rather short amount of time I have lived thus far, it is that nothing is worth enduring if you are not willing to learn from it. We will recover, and we will be better for it."

Morton graduated from Fairfield Prep, and then earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Charles F. Dolan School of Business. His Jesuit education gave him a firm belief that whatever one does for a living - whether a teacher, a nurse, an engineer, or accountant - they must stay true to the Ignatian values of faith, service, and lifelong learning. We must "use our knowledge to improve the lives of others," he said.

Morton noted his Dolan School business degrees are rooted in ethics and morality. "Fairfield business graduates have not solely been taught the debits and credits of accounting, nor just the importance of a well diversified portfolio," emphasized Morton, who earned an M.S. in accounting. "Rather, students have had discussions about the consequences of potential actions taken in ethical situations - not only for them, but for all those affected by their decisions."

The son of Roberta and Robert Morton, Sr., of Monroe, Morton is a 2004 Fairfield College Preparatory School graduate. He received degrees in accounting and economics from Fairfield in 2008. His internships in local firms throughout his career as an undergraduate and graduate student were invaluable to his education, he said. During his five years at Fairfield University, Morton worked at Muskus & Wilemski, LLC, Grill & Partners, LLC, Robert Rosario & Co., LLC and Joseph Palsa & Co., LLC. In August, he begins a position at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP in Stamford.

Posted On: 06-11-2009 10:06 AM

Volume: 41 Number: 360