Commencement Speaker
Chang Park, '73, President and CEO, Universal Remote Control Inc.
Chang is the President and CEO of Universal Remote Control, Inc. in New York which he founded more than 30 years ago. The company develops remote controls and home automation products and supplies them throughout the world.
He was born and raised in Korea. He came to the United States as a teenager to pursue a higher education. He graduated from Michigan Tech with a dual degree in Electrical Engineering and Engineering Administration.
Upon graduation from Michigan Tech, Chang joined an engineering consulting firm in Philadelphia that specialized in designing rapid transit systems. He worked on a number of projects including the electrification of the Washington Metro subway system and Northeast Corridor rail system.
Chang received an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Morgan Guaranty (a predecessor to J.P. Morgan) in New York upon graduation and worked in international financing.
With a strong belief in social causes, he has been a board member of the Bread for the World in D.C., WNET which is a parent company of PBS in New York and surrounding states, National Governing Board emeritus of Common Cause in D.C. and the board emeritus at the Union Theological Seminary in New York.
Chang received several honors including an honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Michigan Tech and the University's Distinguished Alumni Award. He has been inducted into the Academy of Electrical Engineers.
He is also a recipient of Impact Award in Philanthropy Leadership from CARE, an international humanitarian organization, Art Simon Award from the Bread for the World and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Home Automation Industry, CEDIA, a trade association with 3,700 member companies.
He is the Chairman of The Chang K. Park Foundation, an organization that supports human rights, the elimination of poverty and hunger, the implementation of political reform and economic justice.
He resides in Armonk, NY.
PhD/Masters Student Speaker
Zazil Santizo Huerta
Zazil Santizo Huerta is earning her PhD in Discrete Mathematics. After graduation, she plans to teach mathematics at the university level in Los Angeles, California.
Santizo Huerta was born and raised in Tapachula, Mexico, and moved to Mexico City to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at National Autonomous University of Mexico. After working for six years as an instructor there, she was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship to pursue a PhD in the United States.
At Michigan Tech, Santizo Huerta completed her PhD work under the supervision of Melissa Keranen, professor of mathematical sciences, and successfully defended her thesis on April 5. Her research centered on graph decomposition—particularly the uniform case of the Hamilton-Waterloo problem. She also investigated the embeddability of one-rotational designs as maximal arcs in a projective plane.
Santizo Huerta was selected to receive the Graduate School’s Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in spring 2024. In addition to her PhD, she holds a Master of Science in Discrete Mathematics from Michigan Tech.