Franklin Pierce University celebrated the Class of 2026 Saturday, May 9, bringing together graduates, families, faculty, staff, alumni, Board of Trustees members and honored guests on the lakeside Rindge campus and via livestream. This year’s ceremony also included recognition of the first cohort of Pierce’s Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, launched in January 2024.
“Welcome to FPU’s 61st commencement ceremony and congratulations to the Class of 2026,” said FPU President Peter Eden. “To all of today’s graduates, your hard work and perseverance has led you to this day, and we are genuinely proud to recognize each and every Raven. Pierce is a very special place, and I am confident all of you will succeed in this ever-challenging world, using your many strengths that were put to good use at FPU.”
Eden continued: “I also congratulate our first Clinical Mental Health Counseling cohort graduating today. This is just one of our many graduate health professions-focused programs that are so important to rural health care and to FPU’s overall educational model. We’re proud to play an important role in training the next generation of healthcare clinicians and leaders, along with other talented, driven individuals certain to make society better.”
Doug Carty ’06, Franklin Pierce’s director of student engagement, Raven Recreation and Wilderness Programs, earns his MBA.
Cynthia Burgess of Sharon celebrates earning her degree in psychology.
President Peter Eden presents diplomas to graduates at the 61st commencement ceremony.
The university bestowed an honorary doctoral degree and presented two Honorable Walter R. Peterson Citizen Leader Awards at this year’s ceremony. The honorary degree was awarded to Dr. Joanne M. Conroy, CEO of Dartmouth Health and its flagship hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, which partners with FPU’s health professions graduate programs. In late 2025, FPU’s Graduate Academic Center in Lebanon relocated to Centerra Parkway, near DHMC and Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine, allowing expansion of FPU’s Master of Physician Assistant Studies program, including a new, state-of-the-art simulation lab for rural health care delivery, along with enhanced partnership activities with DHMC.
Conroy has led Dartmouth Health since 2017. The system is New Hampshire’s largest private employer and only academic health system. Highlights of her leadership include a dramatic turnaround in Dartmouth Health’s financial performance; the addition of Southwestern Vermont Health Care and Valley Regional Hospital as members of the Dartmouth Health system; the completion of two major expansion projects; and a strategic planning process that is guiding the organization into the future.
The Honorable Walter R. Peterson Citizen Leader Award was created to honor the late New Hampshire governor and second president of FPU, recognizing his lifelong commitment to public service and higher education. This year’s awards were presented to Julie Lenzer and Dr. Jennifer MacDonald.
Lenzer is an entrepreneur, innovation leader and keynote speaker who inspires audiences to lean into unexpected journeys and embrace possibility thinking. Most recently, Lenzer served as chief innovation officer at the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, a Department of Defense-funded Manufacturing Innovation Institute and part of the Manufacturing USA network.
MacDonald is a physician executive and Army veteran experienced in leading national coalitions to achieve strategic impact at scale. She currently serves as chief operating officer of the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, an industry-driven public-private partnership with a mission to advance the U.S. bioeconomy and fundamentally transform the future of human health.
FPU is an integrated member of the ReGen Valley Tech Hub and is engaged in building clinical education opportunities in regenerative medicine.
The university conferred 506 degrees at the doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and associate levels. Among the students recognized was Valedictorian Kaitlyn Bossart of Weare, who majored in health science while also earning a minor in nutrition.
During her time at Franklin Pierce, Bossart founded and served as president of the National Marrow Donor Program Campus Chapter, where she educated students about bone marrow and stem cell transplants and helped register interested individuals for the international donor registry. She also assisted faculty member Dr. Lindsay Vago with cardiorespiratory research and worked as a pediatric licensed nursing assistant supporting children with disabilities.
Since graduating in December 2025, Bossart has continued working as an LNA at a nearby hospital. In the fall, she will begin the Master of Physician Assistant Studies program at Franklin Pierce University’s Lebanon Academic Center.
“Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of sitting next to, learning from and growing alongside people whose definitions of success look very different from mine,” Bossart said. “To me, the most impressive people here are not defined by a medal, but by the challenges they have faced and overcome. Being surrounded by all of you changed the way I think about success. Because success is not one-size-fits-all. We all have different struggles, different circumstances and different priorities. So, as we move on to the next chapter of our lives, I encourage you to define success for yourself.”
A recording of the commencement ceremony and additional photos from the event will be available soon at franklinpierce.edu/commencement.