A pair of Cranston natives were among those honored with honorary doctorates during the University of Rhode Island’s 129th commencement ceremony on May 17.

Dr. Rudolph E. Tanzi, an internationally renowned Alzheimer’s disease researcher, and the late Leo F. DiMaio Jr., who devoted decades to helping expand educational opportunity for disadvantaged youth, were among the five recipients of honorary degrees. Tanzi also delivered the commencement address.

“Wow, this is cool. You know, I’m a Rhode Islander, and once a Rhode Islander, always a Rhode Islander,” Tanzi said. “This is the first honorary doctorate I’ve received in the United States, and it’s just so cool that it happened in Rhode Island.”

Tanzi, a 1976 graduate of Cranston High School East, is the director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Neurology at Harvard Medical School. The son of Ann Tanzi and her late husband, Rudolph Tanzi, he was recently included on Time magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

During his address, Tanzi told the graduates that learning is a “lifelong thing.” He also focused on how the choices graduates make will shape their lives.

“It’s your choices that create your experiences, and your experiences that create your life … so there’s nothing more important than making the right choices,” he said.

Tanzi also urged the students to pursue what brings them joy.

“That’s what it’s all about – learning and enjoying life,” he said. “Don’t ever stop doing it.”

DiMaio, known as “Mr. D.,” served as director of URI’s Talent Development Program for many years. He had previously worked as the first director of education and recreation at the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston. His wife, Ilene, said he began his work at URI as a means of honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

After retiring from the university in 1998, DiMaio created the College Readiness program to help provide educational support for the next generation of young people in need.

Ilene and other family members were on hand for the commencement ceremony. DiMaio’s granddaughter, Angelica M. DiMaio – who was graduating as a member of the class of 2015 – accepted the honorary degree on behalf of the family.

“I was so proud of her … and she was so proud to receive it,” Ilene said, calling the ceremony “just wonderful” and thanking the university for honoring her husband for his more than three decades of work.

“I’m so very pleased that they appreciated him so much,” she said.

URI President Emeritus Robert L. Carothers, who worked with DiMaio for a number of years, introduced the honorary award and spoke of DiMaio’s legacy. He called his late colleague “one of Rhode Island’s most recognized educational advocates” and a man who “dedicated his life to expanding opportunity for students of color and other disadvantaged students.”

“Throughout his life, Leo understood relationships and was a loyal friend to an unfathomably large and diverse group of people. ‘A friend is a friend is a friend’ is a motto he lived by,” Carothers said. “He knew people well in all walks of life. His love, his words, and his lessons will never be forgotten.”

As he concluded his remarks, Carothers asked all of the Talent Development graduates to rise.

“It is all of you here today graduating which would make him most happy, most proud,” he said.