Penn State Intercom......April 25, 2002
Commencement
to be held May 10-11
at University Park
By Allison Kessler
Public Information
| Dees to get honorary doctorate |
| ROTC commissioning ceremony |
| Schreyer Medals ceremony |
The University Park campus will hold its spring 2002 commencement ceremonies for approximately 6,222 associate, baccalaureate and graduate degree students the weekend of May 10-May 11.
As of early April, 6,222 students are scheduled to receive degrees at the University Park ceremonies. That figure includes 21 associate, 5,246 baccalaureate, 729 master's, and 226 doctoral degree students. Systemwide, Penn State will graduate a total of 8,931 students -- approximately 721 with associate degrees, 6,586 baccalaureate degrees, 1,337 graduate degrees, 103 medical degrees, five master's of law degrees and 179 juris doctorate degrees.
Penn State's honorary degree recipient is Morris Dees, chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center. He will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the College of Health and Human Development commencement ceremony scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, May 11, in The Bryce Jordan Center.
The commencement schedule follows:
Friday, May 10
* 3 p.m.: ROTC commissioning ceremony in Schwab Auditorium.
* 5 p.m.: Schreyer Honors College medals ceremony for graduating seniors in Eisenhower Auditorium.
* 8 p.m.: The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences commencement ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium. Margaret Leinen, assistant director of the National Science Foundation for Geoscience, will speak.
* 8 p.m.: The College of Engineering commencement ceremony in The Bryce Jordan Center. Leslie E. Robertson, lead structural engineer for the World Trade Center, will speak.
Saturday, May 11
* 9 a.m.: The College of Agricultural Sciences commencement ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium. Barbara Raphael, vice president of worldwide research and development for Adams Brands, a division of Pfizer Inc., will speak.
* 9 a.m.: The College of Communications commencement ceremony in Rec Hall. Dick Mallary, senior vice president for Gannett Broadcasting, will speak.
* 9 a.m.: The College of Health and Human Development commencement ceremony in The Bryce Jordan Center. Morris Dees, chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center, will speak and receive an honorary degree.
* Noon: The College of Arts and Architecture commencement ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium. James Moeser, chancellor of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and former dean of Penn State's College of Arts and Architecture, will speak.
* Noon: The College of the Liberal Arts commencement ceremony in The Bryce Jordan Center. Kurt Landgraf, president and chief executive officer of Educational Testing Service, will speak.
* Noon: The Eberly College of Science commencement ceremony in Rec Hall. Stephen H. Mahle, senior vice president and president of Cardiac Rhythm Management, will speak.
* 3 p.m.: The College of Education commencement ceremony in Rec Hall. Patricia Morrisey, commissioner of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will speak.
* 3 p.m.: The Smeal College of Business Administration commencement ceremony in The Bryce Jordan Center. Ira M. Lubert, founder of IL Management and chairman of Lubert-Adler Partners, L.P., will speak.
* 6 p.m.: The Graduate School commencement ceremony in Rec Hall. John Dutton, dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, will speak.
Allison Kessler can be reached at akessler@psu.edu.
Dees to receive honorary doctorate
The University will award Morris Dees, chief trial counsel at the Southern Poverty Law Center, an honorary degree at its spring commencement ceremonies.
 |
| Morris Dees |
Dees will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the College of Health and Human Development at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 11, in The Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus. A leader in civil rights and co-founder of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, Dees devotes his time to pursuing justice in the courtroom for victims of hate crimes and developing ideas for the center's education projects. Dees' work has helped to establish the Southern Poverty Law Center as a leader in anti-discriminatory litigation and education.
Dees has won a number of awards as a result of his work at the center. Trial Lawyers for public justice named him Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1987. In 1990, he received the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award from the National Education Association. The American Bar Association awarded him with the Young Lawyers Distinguished Service Award, and the American Civil Liberties Union gave him the Roger Baldwin Award. Dees also received the University of Alabama's humanitarian award.
Penn State awards honorary degrees to scholars, performers, artists and practitioners in academic fields, or individuals who have made particularly distinguished contributions to society in areas such as public service, business or government. Dees was nominated by a 15-member faculty committee and approved by President Graham B. Spanier and the Board of Trustees.
ROTC
commissioning ceremony
to be held May 10
The Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) commissioning ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, May 10, in Schwab Auditorium on the University Park campus.
Col. Steven Paladini, professor of aerospace studies and ROTC tri-service coordinator, will preside over the ceremony.
John Cahir, vice provost and dean for undergraduate education, also will speak.
Brig. Gen. C. Robert Kehler, director of National Security Space Integration, will be the guest speaker and will swear in students as new officers in the armed forces.
A 1974 graduate of the Air Force ROTC program at Penn State, Kehler now commands the largest wing in the country with a work force of more than 5,000 people who provide missile warning and space control for combat forces and the national command authorities of the United States and Canada.
The general is a distinguished graduate of missile operational readiness training and has held a number of missile crew, instructor, evaluator and key staff positions.
Schreyer
Honors Scholars
to be honored at medals ceremony
The Schreyer Honors College will hold a medals commencement ceremony for more than 300 graduates who have successfully completed the requirements to earn an honors diploma at 5 p.m. Friday, May 10, in Eisenhower Auditorium on the University Park campus.
The honors graduates will receive a medallion designed by John A. Cook, professor emeritus of art in the College of Arts and Architecture. President Graham B. Spanier will present the medals, assisted by Rodney Erickson, provost and executive vice president; John Cahir, dean of the Office of Undergraduate Education; and Cheryl Achterberg, dean of the Schreyer Honors College.
Three student awards will be presented during the ceremony.
The Paul Axt Prize recognizes a Schreyer Scholar who has seized the opportunities offered by the University and the Honors College to create an undergraduate education notable for both its breadth and depth.
The Schreyer Honors College Mission Award is awarded to a Schreyer Scholar who best exemplifies the mission of the Honors College -- academic excellence, internationalization and service leadership.
The Dean's Award for Research Achievement honors a graduating Schreyer Scholar who has accomplished a single, extraordinary research achievement. The award honors work of high quality, outstanding intellectual value, creativity, commitment and significance.
A reception and open house will be held in Atherton Hall immediately following the ceremony.
The next class of scholars will be recognized at a ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2, at The Nittany Lion Inn.
Fall graduates will be honored at 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.