Class of 2010, 2011 Graduate from RMU

The drizzling rain outside didn't bother Richard Harshman.

"Regardless of the weather, this is a beautiful day," said Harshman, a trustee of and chief executive officer of Allegheny Technologies, as he stood before graduating seniors from RMU's classes of May 2011 and December and July 2010. 

Harshman was the featured keynote speaker Saturday at the university's annual spring commencement ceremony in the Sewall Center Arena. He said his beginnings at the university -- as an undergraduate struggling to pay tuition while commuting to campus and working part-time jobs -- helped ready him for the professional world. 

"It may seem like your journey is ending," said Harshman, who graduated from RMU in 1978. "But in reality this isn't an ending -- it's a beginning."