April 19, 2001
University Park, Pa. — The University Park campus will hold its spring 2001 commencement ceremonies for approximately 6,250 associate, baccalaureate and graduate degree students the weekend of May 11-May 13.

As of mid-April, 6,254 students are scheduled to receive degrees at the University Park ceremonies. That figure includes 18 associate, 5,326 baccalaureate, 710 master’s, and 200 doctoral degree students. Systemwide, Penn State will graduate a total of 8,766 students — approximately 710 with associate degrees, 6,562 baccalaureate degrees, 1,224 graduate degrees, 98 medical degrees, 8 master’s of law degrees and 164 juris doctorate degrees.

Penn State’s honorary degree recipients are:

·      Kazuo Inamori, founder and chairman emeritus of both Kyocera Corporation and DDI Corporation (KDDI). He will receive an honorary doctorate of science from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, in Eisenhower Auditorium.

·      Stanley B. Prusiner, renowned neurologist and Nobel Prize winner. He will receive an honorary doctorate of science and will speak at the College of Medicine commencement at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 20, in Founders Hall of The Milton S. Hershey School.

·      Henry B. Schacht, chairman and CEO of Lucent Technologies. He will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the Smeal College of Business Administration at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, in the Bryce Jordan Center.

Commencement speakers, times and locations for University Park are:

Friday, May 11

·      3 p.m.: ROTC commissioning ceremony in Schwab Auditorium.

·      5 p.m.: Schreyer Honors College medal ceremony for graduating seniors in Eisenhower Auditorium. Reception will immediately follow.

·      8 p.m.: The College of Education commencement ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium. Wendy D. Puriefoy, president of the Public Education Network (PEN), will speak. PEN is the nation’s largest network of independent, community-based school reform organizations. Prior to her appointment at PEN, she was executive vice president and CEO of the Boston Foundation, a community foundation of $500 million that supports health, welfare, educational, cultural, environmental and housing programs in the greater Boston metropolitan area.

·      8 p.m. The College of Engineering commencement ceremony in the Bryce Jordan Center. David A. Woodle, chairman and CEO of C-Cor.net, will speak. Prior to joining C-COR.net, Woodle was vice president and general manager of Raytheon E-Systems/HRB Systems, and led merger transition efforts to successfully position the company in the wireless data telecommunications marketplace.

Saturday, May 12

·      9 a.m.: The College of Communications commencement ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium. Donald W. Davis, retired chairman and CEO of the Stanley Works, will speak. In 1996, at the age of 44, Davis was the youngest person in Stanley Works' history to be named president. Davis received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Penn State in 1942, and has remained active with the University.

·      9 a.m.: The Eberly College of Science commencement ceremony in the Bryce Jordan Center. Nina V. Fedoroff, Willaman Professor of Life Sciences and director of the Biotechnology Institute and the Life Science Consortium at Penn State, will speak. A member of the University faculty since 1995, Fedoroff was appointed to the National Science Board by President Clinton last year. She has received numerous awards for her scientific achievements, including a National Institutes of Health Merit Award and the Howard Taylor Ricketts Award.

·      Noon: The College of Arts and Architecture commencement ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium. William E. Strickland, Jr., founder and executive director of the Manchester Craftmen’s Guild, will speak. The Guild provides high quality arts education programs for minority, inner city youth and conducts cultural programming for residents of western Pennsylvania.

Strickland is a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Genius Award for leadership and ingenuity in the arts, and the Coming Up Taller Award, which was presented to him in a 1998 White House ceremony.

·       Noon: The College of Health and Human Development commencement ceremony in the Bryce Jordan Center. Duane R. Dunham, chairman, president and CEO of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, will speak. He currently serves as chairman and a director of the American Iron and Steel Institute, and is also a member of the policy committee of The Business Roundtable and a director of the Pennsylvania Business Roundtable.  Dunham received a master’s degree in education from Penn State in 1967.

·      3 p.m.: The College of Agricultural Sciences commencement ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium. Karl Girton, owner of KarFel, which specializes in business management services, will speak.  Girton received a master’s degree in food science from Penn State in 1964, and has remained active with the University. He spearheaded a Department of Food Science initiative to renovate and modernize the 65-year-old Borland Laboratory, and designed and provided at cost, new processing equipment for the milk and ice cream manufacturing facilities in the University Creamery.

·      3 p.m.: The College of the Liberal Arts commencement ceremony in the Bryce Jordan Center. Jeannette D. Bragger, professor of French, will speak.  Bragger served as head of Penn State’s Department of French from 1993 to 2000, and was the associate dean for undergraduate studies from 1985 to 1993. Bragger has published widely in the field of foreign language acquisition, and is the author of numerous textbooks. Her honors include the designation of author of the year by the American-French newspaper Journal Francais d’Amérique in 1988.

·      7 p.m.: The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences commencement ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium. Kazuo Inamori, founder and chairman emeritus of both Kyocera Corporation and DDI Corporation (KDDI), will speak and receive an honorary doctorate in science. Inamori is a leader in the fields of advanced ceramic materials, electronic equipment and telecommunications. He is also chairman emeritus of Taito Corporation and the current president of The Inamori Foundation, which provides grants to young scholars to pursue creative ideas in natural, human, and social sciences.

·      7 p.m.: The Smeal College of Business Administration commencement ceremony in the Bryce Jordan Center. Henry B. Schacht, chairman and CEO of Lucent Technologies, will speak and receive an honorary doctorate in humane letters. Schacht is a visionary business strategist whose self-assurance, creativity and management skills have enabled him to compete successfully in the international business world of advanced technologies. Prior to his service at Lucent, he spent thirty-three years at Cummins - a leader in American diesel making, the last twenty-two years as CEO.

Sunday, May 13

·      1 p.m.: The Graduate School commencement ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium. Judy Olian, dean of the Smeal College of Business Administration, will speak. Prior to her appointment at Penn State in 2000, Olian was senior associate dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, and professor of management and organization. During her tenure, she led the development of the Smith School's initiatives to enhance academic excellence and national rankings, and to advance partnerships and build support for the School from businesses, alumni and international constituencies.

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Contact:  Amy Neil, Department of Public Information, at (814) 865-7517 or e-mail aen4@psu.edu.