Franklin Pierce University will award honorary doctorate degrees to attorney and business executive Steven V. Camerino diversity, equity and inclusion scholar Tia Brown McNair at its graduation exercises Saturday, May 13.

In addition, writer, educator, and community activist JerriAnne Boggis will receive the Honorable Walter R. Peterson Citizen Leader Award, named for New Hampshire’s 72nd governor and the second president of Franklin Pierce University.

“Through this year’s honorary degree and Peterson Award recipients, we celebrate distinguished leaders in their respective fields,” stated college President Kim Mooney. “Their work on the key issues of our time speaks to our commitment to educating agents of change who live as conscientious, engaged citizens.”

Camerino served on the Franklin Pierce University Board of Trustees from 2012 to 2022, holding the position of board chair from 2016 to 2019. As the chief executive officer of McLane Middleton, he is responsible for overseeing the operational, financial marketing, and human resource functions of the firm, and works with the firm’s management team on day-to-day operations and strategic planning.

Camerino previously served as president and CEO of New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC), a consumer-owned electric utility that provides service in 118 communities throughout New Hampshire. Prior to joining NHEC, Camerino was a shareholder and director with McLane Middleton for more than 30 years, where he was managing director of the firm’s Concord office and chaired the firm’s Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Practice Group.

Camerino has also been involved in a leadership role in nonprofit organizations, including as president of New Hampshire Legal Assistance and Legal Advice and Referral Center, both of which serve low-income clients. In 1999, he received the New Hampshire Bar Association’s L. Jonathan Ross Award for Legal Services to the Poor and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America and in Super Lawyers in the energy and public utilities field.

“A top legal mind in energy and utility management, Steve Camerino’s professional accomplishments are complemented by his commitment to ensuring that the organizations he has worked for are engaged in and support the communities where they do business, including ensuring that underserved members of those communities have access to vital legal services,” Mooney stated. “As former chair and member of the Franklin Pierce Board of Trustees, his efforts on behalf of our institution have set us on a path for long-term success.”

McNair is the vice president in the office of diversity, equity, and student success and executive director for the truth, racial healing and transformation (TRHT) campus centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, D.C. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices and student success.

McNair directs AAC&U’s summer institutes on high-impact practices and student success and TRHT campus centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives. She is the co-author of “From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education” and “Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success.”

In March 2020, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education named McNair one of 35 outstanding women who have tackled some of higher education’s toughest challenges and made a positive difference in their communities.

“Doctor McNair is a dynamic and engaging leader at the intersection of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and student success,” stated Mooney. “She is at the forefront of critical conversations across higher education institutions and beyond.”

Boggis is executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, an organization that preserves, celebrates and honors African-American history in the state. She is a writer, educator and community activist who works to correct the historical record on the racial complexity and richness of New Hampshire’s past.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2022 Social Innovation Leader Award in the nonprofit sector by the Entrepreneurs Fund of New Hampshire and the Ona Judge Award by the Human Rights Society in 2021, as well as one of the 10 most-influential women of the century in New Hampshire by the Seacoast Press in 2020.

“Ms. Boggis is a champion for recognizing the Black experience in the Granite State,” stated Mooney. “Her dedication to honoring the full history of our state and celebrating its diversity is a fitting tribute to the legacy of Walter Peterson.”

The honorary degree and Peterson Award recipients will join families and friends in celebrating Franklin Pierce University’s Class of 2023 at their commencement on the Rindge campus. For information about Franklin Pierce University’s 2023 Commencement Exercises, visit franklinpierce.edu/commencement.

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