Ben Coes, author of the acclaimed suspense novel, Power Down, will be the featured speaker at Mount Wachusett Community College’s 46th Commencement ceremony on May 19.
“We are delighted and honored to have Ben Coes as our commencement speaker this year,” said MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino. “Ben represents a new generation of thriller authors in the company of Vince Flynn, Brad Thor and others. He accomplished this by setting out to fulfill a long-held dream, which makes him an extraordinary role model for our graduates, who are moving forward with their own dreams.”
A graduate of Columbia College, Coes worked at the White House under President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush and was a White House-appointed speechwriter to U.S. Secretary of Energy James Watkins during the Gulf War. He later wrote speeches for Texas oilman billionaire T. Boone Pickens, a proponent of alternative energy.
In 2002, Coes served as campaign manager for Mitt Romney’s successful run for Governor of Massachusetts and is currently a partner at the Boston-based The Mustang Group, LLC, an alternative investment firm that makes control investments in companies through divisional buy-outs, public company buy-outs, and acquisitions of privately held companies.
Power Down, released in September 2010 by St. Martin’s Press, has been hailed as a gripping, compelling debut thriller about a series of terrorist attacks that shatter America’s energy-producing capacity while underscoring the fragility of the country’s dependence on oil from the Middle East. Coes second novel, the sequel Coup D’État, will be released in September.
“I’m very excited to come out and speak to the graduating class of Mount Wachusett Community College,” said Coes. “As a Massachusetts resident, I know that Mount Wachusett and other community colleges serve a critical role in our economy and in the future of the state. I’m looking forward to coming out and meeting everyone and sharing a few words.”
Coes, who served as a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, is the recipient of several awards, including the prestigious Bennett Cerf Memorial Prize for Fiction during his senior year at Columbia. He resides in Wellesley with his wife, Shannon, and their four children.
MWCC’s commencement will take place at 6 p.m. in the college’s Fitness and Wellness Center.
Janice O’Connor
Director of Public Relations
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