Alumni Board President Daniel T. Green earned his master鈥檚 degree in directing at Carnegie Mellon and fell in love with the university. The feeling is mutual.
鈥淒an Green is the epitome of a Carnegie Mellon alumnus. He鈥檚 been an invaluable asset to the Carnegie Mellon community,鈥� said President Jared L. Cohon in introducing Green as the keynote speaker at May鈥檚 commencement.
Invaluable? Consider these, shall we say in directing vernacular, 鈥渢akes.鈥�
Take 1: The Alumni Association Board president and member of the Carnegie Mellon Board of Trustees co-founded 鈥淭he Showcase of New Talent鈥� in Los Angeles. This annual program, now in its 10th year, brings more than 50 graduating students to the West Coast to engage in a week-long series of auditions and interviews with some of the top agents, directors, designers and producers in the industry. The showcase, sponsored by the West Coast Drama Alumni Clan, has provided students with the opportunity to engage with prominent alumni. This year was no exception as students met with actor Ted Danson (A鈥�72), actor Blair Underwood (A鈥�88), designer John Shaffner (A鈥�76) and producer John Wells (A鈥�79).
Take 2: Green founded Carnegie Day, an annual fall event for West Coast alumni, which has resulted in diverse outings such as 鈥淗abitat for Humanity,鈥� 鈥淎 Day at the Theatre鈥� and 鈥淎 Day at the Races.鈥�
Take 3: The 1999 Alumni Service Award winner had the seats from the old Studio Theatre transported to LA, where he auctioned them off as a university fundraiser.
Invaluable? Indeed.
Since earning his master鈥檚 degree in 1994 at the 鈥渞ipe old age鈥� of 29, Green has been quite busy with things other than Carnegie Mellon as well. He has directed more than 50 plays, produced a film that toured the country on the festival circuit and a documentary about inner-city teens and their effort to avoid drugs and alcohol. He wrote several plays, including the musical 鈥淎n Elf Chorus Line,鈥� and has worked in production for television hits like 鈥淓R,鈥� 鈥淭he Sopranos,鈥� 鈥淧arty of Five鈥� and 鈥淭he West Wing.鈥� He鈥檚 also a member of the faculty at The Theatre Academy of Los Angeles City College and The University of Texas/Austin (LA Program).
Success did not come easy for Green, who joked about the importance of perseverance and determination in his commencement remarks. 鈥淎 few years ago, I was handing out bottles of water at commencement, so you people handing out the water today鈥our next assistance to the university might be in giving a commencement speech鈥o listen up!鈥�
Throughout his speech Green used the popular TV show 鈥�24鈥� and its countdown clock as a metaphor for internally imposed timelines for success. In fact he even counted down his own speech. Green said though the Class of 2005 were probably all workaholics (since they graduated from Carnegie Mellon) they should try to set aside their internal, artificial time clock for success. 鈥淲e each have a clock that sets a time or plateau to reach our goals and accomplishments. [But] you can鈥檛 put an arbitrary date on your dreams.鈥� For example, Green spoke about his early days as an assistant when his duties included getting cappuccinos at Starbucks. 鈥淚 used to walk to my car and wonder, 鈥楽o how does my master鈥檚 degree from Carnegie Mellon help with this job?鈥欌��
He went on to explain that 鈥減erseverance is a great element of success. Knocking long enough and loud enough has to count for something,鈥� he said while tapping on the lectern. 鈥淐arnegie alumni all have something very special that binds us together: our determination, our dedication and our commitment to make a difference in the world in which we live鈥攏o matter how much time is left in the day.鈥�
Green closed with a few parting words to live by for the more than 2,100 grads. 鈥淵our memories of Carnegie Mellon are now a part of who you are. Be passionate, be reflective, be creative and be thankful. This speech and my time are over, but your time is just beginning.鈥�
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