Philanthropist, astronaut and entrepreneur Bernard Harris, MD, of Houston, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters at New Jersey Institute of Technology's 2009 Commencement Ceremony to be held on Saturday, May 16, 2009. In education circles, the recipient is known for the Bernard Harris Summer Camp, a two-week opportunity to encourage middle school students to pursue a career in science or related fields.

NJIT’s 2009 Commencement Ceremony will be held Saturday, May 16, 2009, at the Prudential Center, Newark from 9 a.m.-noon. During the ceremony, more than 2,000 honorary doctoral degrees and earned doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees will be conferred on the Class of 2009. NJIT has been the only New Jersey venue for the Bernard Harris Summer Camp program, fully-supported by both Harris’ own foundation and ExxonMobil. 

Bernard A. Harris, Jr., M.D., M.B.A. is  the veteran of two space shuttle missions and was the first African-American to walk in space. He is also
director, president/CEO and managing partner of Vesalius Ventures, a venture capital firm focused in medical informatics and technology (or telemedicine).  

Founded in 2002 as a venture capital  accelerator focused in medical informatics and technology (Telemedicine) and built upon the foundation of the work of the management team, the company has now created a unique firm for the evolutionary technologies in emerging markets, through the entities Vesalius Ventures, Inc.  Accelerator and Vesalius Capital Group, LLC.

For more information visit
http://www.vesaliusventures.com/home.htm