Bellarmine University’s
spring commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 13 will include a commencement speech by
Elmcroft Senior Living’s chairman and CEO, Pat Mulloy. The university plans to award 637 degrees, making this the largest commencement ceremony in Bellarmine’s history.
Commencement takes place in Owsley B. Frazier Stadium on Bellarmine’s campus.
Mulloy, who is completing a term as chairman of Bellarmine’s board of trustees, will receive an honorary doctoral degree during the commencement ceremony.
At Louisville-based Elmcroft, Mulloy oversees more than 5,000 employees who operate 83 independent, assisted and dementia care communities in 18 states. Mulloy co-founded the company in 2006.
“I tell our teams all the time, other than bringing babies into this world, helping people leave this planet with some level of dignity and grace and having a meaningful experience in the last home they have, that’s important work,” said Mulloy. “It matters.”
Mulloy began his career as an attorney in private practice, and is still licensed to practice law. He served former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones as the state’s finance secretary before becoming president and CEO of Atria Senior Living in 1996.
Serving as a trustee since 2007, and as the board’s chairman since 2011, Mulloy has been an instrumental force in Bellarmine’s growth and its emergence as the premier independent Catholic university in the south and the leading private university in Kentucky and the region. He guided the university through a period of transition following the 2016 death of longtime Bellarmine president Joseph J. McGowan. Under his leadership, the trustees appointed an interim president and launched a national search for the university’s fourth president,
Dr. Susan Donovan.
Mulloy earned his bachelor’s degree and law degree from Vanderbilt University.
Leonard and Susan Spalding will also receive honorary doctoral degrees, in recognition of their longtime support of the university. Leonard Spalding is a 1959 graduate of Bellarmine and serves as a university trustee, with extensive involvement in the institution’s fundraising and financial governance.
Susan Spalding was director of Northern Trust Co.’s New York and East Coast Corporate Client Servicing Unit, serving as the relationship link to such major corporate clients as AT&T, Allied Signal, Pfizer and American Brands. Leonard Spalding worked as president and chief executive officer of the Chase Global Mutual Funds Corporation in New York After she retired in 1997 and he retired in 1998, the Spaldings returned to Leonard's hometown, Springfield, Ky.
The 64rd annual spring commencement begins at 9 a.m., with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required to attend commencement, although if the ceremony is moved indoors to Knights Hall because of severe weather, guest tickets issued to each graduate will be required for entry because of limited space. A
live video broadcast of the ceremony is available online and in the George G. Brown Center’s Frazier Hall.
Susan and Leonard Spalding