By: SRU Public Information
Posted In: News
Photo credit: Matt Boxler
Lily Haseotes Bentas, chief executive officer and chairperson of Cumberland Farms Inc., will present the keynot address at the 56th Commencement ceremony on Sun., May 21.
Lily Haseotes Bentas, chief executive officer and chairperson of Cumberland Farms Inc., will present the keynote address during Salve Regina’s 56th Commencement on Sunday, May 21 at 10 a.m. Bentas will also be awarded an honorary doctorate in business administration.
During the Commencement ceremony, Salve Regina President M. Therese Antone, R.S.M. will present 449 bachelor’s degrees, 107 master’s degrees, seven certificates of advanced graduate studies and seven Ph.D.s in Humanities. Additionally, honorary doctorates will be awarded to Nuala Pell and Peter W. Rector. As a longtime supporter of Salve Regina, Mrs. Pell has also been an advocate for the university’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy which was established in 1996 to honor the legacy of her husband, retired Sen. Claiborne Pell. Peter W. Rector is the president and owner of the Newport Creamery Corp. and will be awarded a doctorate in business administration. Cumberland Farms Inc. is one of the largest independent family owned convenience stores/gasoline retailing chains in the United States. Bentas was appointed CEO of the company in 1991. Cumberland Farms was founded by her parents, Vasilios and Aphrodite Haseotes more than 50 years ago as a family farm in Cumberland, RI. Bentas also oversees the company’s board of directors and has spearheaded a program for upgrading and remodeling the company, resulting in a record year of profitability in 2005. Today, Cumberland Farms owns and operates over 1,1000 convenience stores and gasoline facilities in New England, New York, the mid-Atlantic states and Florida.
