Penn State To Hold Commencement Ceremonies Dec. 16
Nov. 29, 2000
University Park, Pa. – Penn State’s University Park campus will hold its fall 2000 commencement ceremonies for approximately 3,370 associate, baccalaureate and graduate degree students on Saturday, Dec. 16.
Undergraduate baccalaureate and associate degrees will be awarded at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center. Graduate degrees will be awarded at 3:30 p.m. in Eisenhower Auditorium.
As of today, 3,371 students are scheduled to receive degrees at the University Park ceremonies. That figure includes 19 associate, 2,715 baccalaureate, 409 master’s, and 228 doctoral degree students. Systemwide, Penn State will graduate a total of 4,530 students – approximately 329 with associate degrees, 3,356 baccalaureate degrees, 842 graduate degrees, and 3 juris doctorate degrees.
Penn State President Graham Spanier will confer degrees at the undergraduate baccalaureate and associate degree ceremonies and the Graduate School program. Rodney Erickson, executive vice president and provost, will preside at the baccalaureate and associate degree ceremonies, and Eva Pell, vice president for research and dean of the graduate school, will preside at the Graduate School ceremony.
Renowned historian Raul Hilberg, the speaker at the 10 a.m. undergraduate degree ceremony, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. Recognized as one of the world's preeminent scholars on the Holocaust, his book, "The Destruction of the European Jews," is a landmark study of the Holocaust and the systematic extermination by Adolph Hitler of millions of Jews. A professor emeritus of political science at the University of Vermont, Hilberg was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve as a member of the President's Commission on the Holocaust and was a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
Award-winning actress Uta Hagen, the speaker at the 1 p.m. undergraduate degree ceremony, will receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. She has devoted her life to the mastery of acting and the profession of educating and training actors. Hagen received a lifetime-achievement Tony Award, American theatre's most-coveted honor, and an Obie Award, off-Broadway's highest honor. Since 1947, she has devoted her life to teaching and directing at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York City, and has had a profound influence on the way acting is practiced and taught in this country. In 1981, Hagen was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.
The following colleges will hold undergraduate associate and baccalaureate degree ceremonies at 10 a.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center:
The following colleges will hold undergraduate associate and baccalaureate degree ceremonies at 1 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center:
Richard W. Durst, dean of the College of Arts and Architecture and executive director of University Arts services at Penn State, will be the speaker at the Graduate School ceremonies at 3:30 p.m. in Eisenhower Auditorium. Durst is an internationally known specialist in theatre design and the role of theater in colleges and universities. He was president of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, and is a member of the Commission on Technology for the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. Prior to coming to Penn State in July, he served as dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts and professor of theatre at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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Contact: Amy Neil, Department of Public Information, at (814) 865-7517 or
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