University Park, Pa. -- Through the end of the fall 2010 semester, Penn State has conferred a total of 667,591 degrees. As of spring 2011 the University's total number of graduates should approach 680,095.
This spring Penn State expects to award approximately 12,504 diplomas to students University-wide who are completing 632 associate, 10,048 baccalaureate, 1,238 master's, 152 medical, 180 law and 254 doctoral degrees.
At University Park 15 students are expected to receive associate degrees, while 8,124 will be awarded baccalaureate degrees. Approximately 876 master's degree students are expected to graduate, as are 254 doctoral degree candidates. All figures listed are estimates as of late March.
Following is a compilation of commencement ceremonies and speaker information for Penn State's 24 campuses. Additional information is available online at http://commencement.psu.edu.
Penn State Abington
10 a.m. Friday, May 13, Athletic Building
Speaker: Steve Korman '62
Korman is Chairman and CEO of Korman Communities, a fourth-generation Philadelphia area real estate company formed nearly a century ago. Today, Korman Communities is a fully integrated real estate company with development, management and financial capabilities operating throughout the eastern United States. Korman holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Penn State.
http://www.abington.psu.edu/psasite/cs/commencement.html
Penn State Altoona
10 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Jaffa Shrine, Altoona
Speaker: Valerie Stratton, associate professor emerita of psychology, Penn State Altoona
Stratton received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Douglass College in New Jersey in 1967 and her doctoral degree in experimental psychology from Penn State in 1971. She joined the faculty of Penn State Altoona that year as an assistant professor of psychology. Over time, she began to focus her research on the emotional and cognitive impact of music. Stratton retired from Penn State Altoona in 2008. During her thirty-seven year tenure at the college, she taught a variety of psychology courses and was instrumental in establishing the psychology degree program in 2003. She received the College of the Liberal Arts Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award in 1988, was nominated for a University Teaching Award in 1996 and was awarded the McKay Donkin Award for outstanding contributions to the University in 2006. In addition to serving on the college and University Senates for many years, Stratton was head of the Division of Education, Human Development and Social Sciences from 2003 to 2007.
http://www.altoona.psu.edu/commencement
Penn State Beaver
7 p.m. Friday, May 13, Auditorium, Student Union Building
Speaker: Patrick McGivern '90, '00 M.Eng., aerospace engineer, Lockheed Martin
McGivern attended Penn State Beaver and graduated from Penn State's University Park campus with an engineering degree in 1990. In 2000, he received his master's degree in engineering from Penn State. He is involved with top-level government projects at Lockheed Martin and, with the support of the company, has donated more than $250,000 to Penn State, including $100,000 to establish the Audrey J. McGivern Trustee Endowed Scholarship at Penn State Beaver to honor his mother. He is a member of Penn State's prestigious Mount Nittany Society.
Penn State Berks
10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Beaver Community Center
Speaker: John Gilmore '01, tight end, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Gilmore was a four-year letterman at Penn State, where he received the Hall Foundation Award as the Nittany Lions' outstanding senior football player. He graduated with a degree in recreation and parks management. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the 2002 NFL Draft, but was signed by the Chicago Bears shortly afterward. Gilmore played for Chicago for six seasons and is now the tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2010 Gilmore established the Gilmore/Henne Community Fund with Miami Dolphins quarterback and fellow Wilson High School (West Lawn, Pa.) graduate Chad Henne. The fund, housed at Berks County Community Foundation, seeks to improve recreational facilities in Berks County and provide scholarships for local high school students.
Penn State Brandywine
Saturday, May 14, 10 a.m, Commons Building Gymnasium
Speaker: Todd Carmichael, CEO and co-founder, La Colombe Torrefaction
Carmichael has spent the last 18 years converting the nation's culinary elite into La Colombe drinkers. Along the way he has made his company the country's leading coffee roaster while managing it philanthropically. Also a passionate crusader for social and ecological causes, Carmichael has a decade-long history of undertaking self-supported treks into challenging environments. He has visited nearly half the world's countries, crossed large parts of the Sahara on foot, and was the first American to trek solo across Antarctica from the coast to the South Pole, also earning the world speed record for crossing the continent by foot. He has been an attaché to the Saudi Royal Family, is married to singer-songwriter Lauren Heart and has recently expanded his family exponentially by adopting three girls from Ethiopia. An author and contributor to the Huffington Post and Esquire Magazine, he is currently working on becoming the first man to traverse Death Valley north to south, unsupported and unaided.
Penn State College of Medicine
1 p.m. Sunday, May 15, Milton Hershey School Founders Hall, Hershey
Speaker: Elizabeth G. Nabel, president, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Nabel is the president of the Brigham and Women's/Faulkner Hospitals, a position she assumed on Jan. 4, 2010. Previously, she served as the director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, where she oversaw an extensive national research portfolio with an annual budget of approximately $3 billion to prevent, diagnose and treat heart, lung and blood diseases. A native of St. Paul, Minn., Nabel attended Weill Cornell Medical College and conducted her internal medicine and cardiovascular training at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She held faculty positions at the University of Michigan Medical School, where she directed the Division of Cardiology and the Cardiovascular Research Center. As a physician-scientist, Nabel has made substantial contributions to the understanding of molecular genetics of cardiovascular diseases. She is on the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine and is a partner on 17 patents and the author of more than 250 scientific publications.
http://www.pennstatehershey.org/web/educationalaffairs/home/upcoming/graduation
Penn State Dickinson School of Law
2 p.m. Saturday, May 21, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park
Speaker: Linda Greenhouse, Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School; receiving honorary doctorate of law degree
Greenhouse is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. She covered the Supreme Court for The New York Times between 1978 and 2008 and writes a biweekly column on law. She received several major journalism awards during her 40-year career at the Times, including the Pulitzer Prize (1998) and the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from Harvard University's Kennedy School (2004). In 2002, the American Political Science Association gave her its Carey McWilliams Award for "a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics." Her biography of Justice Harry A. Blackmun, "Becoming Justice Blackmun," was published in 2005. Her latest book, "Before Roe v. Wade: Voices That Shaped the Abortion Debate Before the Supreme Court's Ruling" (with Reva B. Siegel), was published in 2010. Greenhouse is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, where she serves on the council, and is one of two non-lawyer honorary members of the American Law Institute, which in 2002 awarded her its Henry J. Friendly Medal. She is a member of the Council of the American Philosophical Society, which in 2005 awarded her its Henry Allen Moe Prize for writing in the humanities and jurisprudence. She was elected in 2009 to the Harvard University Board of Overseers. For two academic years, 2004 and 2005, she was a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, lecturing and teaching at colleges and universities around the country and is currently a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Senate. She is a 1968 graduate of Radcliffe College (Harvard), where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned a master of studies in law degree in 1978 from Yale Law School, which she attended on a Ford Foundation fellowship.
http://law.psu.edu/office_for_student_services/2011_commencement
Penn State DuBois
2 p.m. Saturday, May 14, Gymnasium, Multipurpose Building
Speaker: Samuel Hayes Jr. '64, '65 M.Ed.
Hayes is a member of Penn State's Board of Trustees. He represented Pennsylvania's 81st Legislative District, including Huntingdon, Centre and Blair counties, in the House of Representatives from 1970 to 1992. He rose to the positions of majority and minority whip, as well as majority leader. Hayes also served as the Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture from June 1997 to January 2003.
http://www.ds.psu.edu/Academics/DuBoisCommencement.htm
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
2 p.m., Saturday, May 14, Louis J. Tullio Arena
Speaker: Russell L. Warley, associate professor of mechanical engineering, Penn State Behrend
Warley is program chair for Penn State Behrend's mechanical engineering degree program and teaches courses in thermodynamics, heat transfer and engineering experimentation. He was a 2010 recipient of the George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching. Named for the seventh president of the University (1882-1907), the award is presented each year to four faculty members who have devoted substantial effort to and developed a record of excellence in undergraduate teaching. Prior to his teaching career, Warley spent 20 years in industry at LORD and Cabot corporations.
http://behrend.psu.edu/academic/registrar/commencement.htm
Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus
10 a.m. May 14, Penn State Fayette Community Center
Speaker: Douglas R. Matthews '87, senior vice president-tubular operations, U.S. Steel, and president, U.S. Steel Tubular Products Inc.
Matthews, a Uniontown, Pa., native and 1987 Penn State alumnus, joined U.S. Steel in 1988 as a management associate. He served in various roles at plants in the Pittsburgh area and in Ohio, Indiana and Serbia before being named president and general manager of U.S. Steel Canada in October 2007, when U.S. Steel completed its acquisition of Canadian steelmaker Stelco Inc. Matthews was elected to his current position in February 2009 and has executive responsibility for the company's tubular operations and associated functions.
Penn State Great Valley
Friday, May 13, campus grounds
-- 3 p.m. education and engineering ceremony
-- 7 p.m. management ceremony
Speaker: Gary Smith, president and CEO, Chester County Economic Development Council
Smith joined the Chester County Economic Development Council in 1976 and quickly rose to a leadership role by pioneering award-winning programs of subsidized financing, agricultural economic development, brownfields redevelopment, conduit funding for commercial construction and urban revitalization. Due to his efforts over the past 12 years, the council has secured more than $155 million in external funding for hundreds of projects ranging from industry partnerships to workforce development. During his tenure, the council’s programs and services have helped to create more than 145,000 new jobs; assisted in retaining more than 168,000 existing jobs; and brokered $9.75 billion in commercial financing loans.
http://www.sgps.psu.edu/current/commencement/default.ashx
Penn State Greater Allegheny
11 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Wunderley Gymnasium
Speaker: To be announced
Penn State Harrisburg
9:30 a.m. May 14, Giant Center, Hershey
Speaker: Osaclara "Rosa" C. Stroh, vice president, treasurer, The Hershey Company
Stroh is a finance veteran for The Hershey Company, having joined the company in 1982 and served in various finance roles since then. She was appointed vice president, treasurer in 2005 and has provided leadership and growth to the Treasury group, while also providing leadership in the community and with professional associations. Her current responsibilities include management of Hershey’s worldwide liquidity resources, formulating and implementing the appropriate capital structure, and managing the financial risks of the company and relationships with commercial and investment banks. Stroh also oversees the company’s risk and insurance function and the management of the company’s retirement assets and the 401(k) employee plans. Stroh holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bloomsburg University and an MBA from Penn State Harrisburg. Stroh is an officer and board member of the Network of Executive Women where she also serves as treasurer. She is also a board member for the National Association of Corporate Treasurers and has active membership with the Association for Financial Professionals and the Financial Executives International group. A member of a Penn State family, she is married to Brady Max Stroh, who holds a master’s degree from Penn State Harrisburg. They have two adult children, Adriana, a 2004 Penn State Harrisburg graduate, and Antonio, a 2010 graduate of Penn State University Park.
http://harrisburg.psu.edu/commencement/
Penn State Hazleton
7 p.m. Friday, May 6 Gymnasium, Physical Education Building
Speaker: John B. (Jack) Curcio, retired president, CEO and chairman of the board, Mack Trucks
A Hazleton native, Curcio has been a leader and pioneer in the commercial vehicle sector for more than 50 years. He started his career in 1954 in Hazleton and has held significant corporate leadership positions with several major companies before retiring as president, CEO and chairman of the board of Mack Trucks. Curcio holds 11 patents in truck body and design. He spearheaded an industry shift to using high strength aluminum alloys in construction truck bodies and trailer manufacturing. He has been recognized for his numerous efforts in support of education, and military and community organizations.
http://www.hn.psu.edu/30983.htm
Penn State Lehigh Valley
11 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Stabler Arena, Bethlehem
Speaker: Mayim Bialik, a neuroscientist and actress on the CBS comedy "The Big Bang Theory"
Born in California to first-generation Jewish American parents who were documentary filmmakers and teachers, Mayim Hoya Bialik is best known for her lead role as "Blossom Russo" in the early-'90s NBC sitcom "Blossom." She also played the young Bette Midler in the film Beaches and had guest roles on some of television's most beloved shows of the 1980s and 1990s, including "MacGuyver," "Webster" and "The Facts of Life." She appeared in Woody Allen's film "Don't Drink the Water" in 1994, and has more recently appeared in HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Most recently, she can be seen playing character Amy Farrah Fowler on the hit CBS comedy "The Big Bang Theory." Bialik earned a bachelor of science degree from UCLA in 2000 in neuroscience and Hebrew and Jewish studies, and a doctoral degree in neuroscience from UCLA in 2007. Her thesis in psychoneuroendocrinology examined hypothalamic secretions and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in adolescents with Prader-Willi syndrome. She is married with two sons, born in 2005 and 2008. She lives in southern California and enjoys cooking vegan food, practicing attachment parenting and natural family living and studying Judaism.
http://www.lv.psu.edu/Academics/26802.htm
Penn State Mont Alto
10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Multipurpose Activities Center
Speaker: Shaun B. Keister '92, associate vice president of development, Penn State
Keister completed the first two years of his Penn State degree at Mont Alto ('88-'89) before completing his bachelor's degree in political science at the University Park campus. Keister graduated magna cum laude as a member of the University Scholars Program, the forerunner to the Schreyer Honors College. He earned master's and doctoral degrees in sociology from Iowa State University. Prior to his current position, Keister spent 13 years at the Iowa State University Foundation, where he served as vice president for development outreach.
Penn State New Kensington
10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Athletics Center
Speaker: David A. Ciesinski, vice president for marketing, U.S. Consumer products, H.J. Heinz Company
Ciesinski heads the Ketchup, Condiments and Sauces division that include the brands Heinz Ketchup, Heinz Heritage Sauces, Heinz 57 Sauce, Lea and Perrins, and Jack Daniel's barbeque sauce. Ciesinski holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and is a graduate of United States Military Academy at West Point. As a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he served during Operation Desert Shield/Storm and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal.
http://www.nk.psu.edu/Academics/commencement.htm
Penn State Schuylkill
10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Campus Green (gymnasium of Health and Wellness Building if inclement weather)
Speaker: John Hillkirk, editor, USA Today
Hillkirk has been a writer and editor at USA Today since the newspaper was founded in 1982. Before being named to his current position in April 2009, he was executive editor for five years and managing editor of USA Today's Money section for nine years. In 2009 and 2010, Hillkirk judged the Pulitzer Prizes over two days at Columbia University, has served since 2002 as a final judge of the Gerald Loeb Award, administered by UCLA's Anderson School of Management, and has judged the Society of American Business Editors and Writers annual prizes as well. Hillkirk has co-authored three books: "Xerox: American Samurai" in 1986 and "Grit, Guts and Genius: True tales of Megasuccess" in 1990 were co-authored by Gary Jacobson of the Dallas Morning News. A 1991 management book co-authored with former Ford CEO Donald E. Petersen is titled "A Better Idea: Redefining the Way Americans Work."
http://www.sl.psu.edu/Academics/graduation.htm
Penn State Shenango
7:30 p.m. Friday, May 13, Auditorium
Speaker: Philip Kennedy, Penn State Shenango business faculty member
Kennedy has taught accounting and finance at Penn State Shenango for the past 10 years. Prior to joining Penn State's faculty, he spent 25 years at Slippery Rock University, including 15 years as a department chair. In addition to teaching, Kennedy is a certified public accountant. He has lectured at numerous national and international forums; developed various programs, including study abroad and international internship programs; and has been a consultant for several major U.S. companies. He has traveled extensively and has conducted business throughout the world. Kennedy is a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs and is on the board of directors of the Buffalo Funds, a mutual fund based in Shawnee Mission, Kan. He received a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Saint Francis College, a master of science degree in accounting from Duquesne University and studied in the University of Pittsburgh’s doctoral program.
Penn State University Park (see below)
Penn State Wilkes-Barre
10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Athletic and Recreation Building Building
Speaker: Steve Jones '80
Jones is the voice of the Penn State football and Nittany Lion basketball programs, broadcasting on the Penn State Sports Network heard on approximately 50 radio stations and www.GoPSUSports.com, the official website of Penn State Athletics. A 1980 Penn State graduate with a degree in speech communication and broadcasting, Jones began doing radio play-by-play of Nittany Lion basketball games during his undergraduate career. He became voice of the men's basketball team in 1982 and debuted on the football broadcast with the 2000 Blue-White Game. In all, he has done radio play-by-play for more than 800 Penn State basketball and football games.
Penn State Worthington Scranton
6 p.m. Friday, May 13, Multi-Purpose Building
Speaker: Terry Pegula
Born and raised in Carbondale, Pa., Pegula attended Penn State Worthington Scranton for his first two years as a Penn State student and earned a bachelor of science degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering from the University in 1973. He is the founder and former president, CEO and principal shareholder of East Resources Inc., started in 1983 as a privately held independent natural gas exploration and development company based in Warrendale, Pa. Pegula built it into one of the largest privately held companies in the United States, which was acquired in July 2010 by Royal Dutch Shell. In September 2010 he and his wife, Kim, committed to Penn State the largest private gift in the University's history -- $88 million -- to fund a state-of-the-art multipurpose arena and help to establish an NCAA Division I men's hockey program.
http://www.sn.psu.edu/Academics/commencement.htm
Penn State York
6 p.m. Friday May 13, Pullo Family Performing Arts Center
Speaker: Joel M. Rodney, chancellor, Penn State York
Rodney, 72, is retiring from the University effective July 31, 2011, and has accepted an appointment as visiting director of global partnerships for the University of South Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland, Fl. He assumed the leadership of Penn State York in 2003. During his tenure the campus has earned an international designation from the University, and the number of international students has grown significantly. Rodney was instrumental in designing a two-plus-two program in 2006 between Penn State and the Vidyalankar School of Information Technology in India, which allows students from India to combine their first two years of university education in computer science in India with their final two years in information sciences and technology (IST) at Penn State York. The first students came to York in 2008. In addition, Rodney helped found a multi-campus India Initiative, which expanded the two-plus-two program in IST to six additional schools in India and now also includes the following Penn State campuses: Berks, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Worthington Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, as well as York. Also under Rodney's leadership, the Pullo Family Performing Arts Center on campus was completed in 2005 and a theatre minor was added to the curriculum. The Edward M. Elias Science Building, featuring updated classroom and lab facilities, opened this summer, and renovations are under way to the chemistry labs at the campus, which will be transformed into a high-tech engineering facility, the Ralph G. and Madeline B. Swenson Engineering Center. Before he leaves, Rodney hopes to have a new certificate in entrepreneurial studies fully developed and operational, meet the goals of Penn State York's capital campaign, and continue to improve services to students, especially those from around the world.
http://www2.yk.psu.edu/commencement/schedule.html
Penn State University Park:
College of Agricultural Sciences
9 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Eisenhower Auditorium
Speaker: Marcos Fernandez, associate dean for undergraduate education, College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State
Fernandez came to Penn State in 2005 from Louisiana State University, where he was associate dean for student services in LSU's College of Agriculture. In his current role, he supports faculty and staff excellence in teaching and advising; coordinates student recruitment and retention programs; leads curricular revitalization efforts; enhances globalization of teaching and learning activities; and administers and expands the college's scholarship programs. Under his leadership, the number of undergraduates served by the college has risen by more than 40 percent, reversing several years of declines. Fernandez also has served as a professor of animal science at LSU and as an assistant research professor at Langston University in Langston, Okla. His research on metabolism and nutrition in livestock species has been widely published, and he has been recognized with numerous teaching awards and honors. He earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural science from Illinois State University, a master's degree in animal science from the University of Tennessee and a doctorate in animal science from North Carolina State University. On July 1, he will become associate dean and director of academic programs in the College of Agriculture at Purdue University.
http://agsci.psu.edu/students/events/Spring-2011-Commencement
College of Arts and Architecture
Noon, Saturday, May 14, Eisenhower Auditorium
Speaker: Robert E. Fenza, '80, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Liberty Property Trust
Fenza joined Liberty Property Trust's predecessor, Rouse and Associates, in 1984 as managing partner. In 2000 he became chief operating officer and spearheaded Liberty's growth to become one of America's leading developers of green high-performance buildings. Fenza is active in his community and holds leadership positions with a number of organizations, including the Charter High School for Architecture and Design, Moorestown Friends School, Agriculture Advisory Committee of Chester County's Economic Development Council and Quest, an equestrian hippotherapy center for children with disabilities. He is also an active member of the Natural Lands Trust Advisory Council and serves on the Advisory Board for FM Global, a worldwide commercial property insurance and risk management company. In addition, Fenza chairs the College of Arts and Architecture's Development Committee and is a member of the National Council on Penn State Philanthropy. He received the College of Arts and Architecture's Alumni Award in 2002 and was named a Penn State Alumni Fellow in 2004.
Smeal College of Business
10 a.m. Sunday, May 15, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Barry Salzberg, chief executive officer, Deloitte LLP
Salzberg joined Deloitte in 1977, was admitted as partner in 1985 and was elected CEO in 2007. In between, he held a variety of leadership roles including Tri-State Group managing partner, National Tax managing partner and U.S. managing partner. Salzberg is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, among other organizations. He is on the boards of the Center for Audit Quality, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy and the Partnership for New York. He is an adviser to the G100 and international councillor to the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Salzberg holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Brooklyn College, a law degree from Brooklyn Law School and a master of laws degree in taxation from New York University.
College of Communications
Noon Saturday, May 14, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Wolf Blitzer, lead political anchor, CNN; receiving honorary doctorate of humane letters
Blitzer anchors CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" and is known for his in-depth reporting on international news. He has covered American elections, the Middle East, the fall of the Soviet Union and the Iraq War, as well as other major stories since he began his career with Reuters in 1972. His work has won a number of prestigious awards, including two Emmys. Blitzer also has authored two books. He joined CNN in 1990.
http://comm.psu.edu/current/commencement
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
8 p.m. Friday, May 13, Eisenhower Auditorium
Speaker: William Easterling, dean, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Penn State
Easterling is an internationally recognized expert on how global warming may affect the Earth's food supply, and was one of the lead authors of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on the effects of climate change, which was the co-winner (with Al Gore) of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Easterling has been at Penn State for more than a decade, serving as director of the Penn State Institute of Energy and the Environment from 2001 to 2007 and assuming responsibilities as dean on July 1, 2007. As dean, he is the chief academic officer of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and focuses on strengthening the College's position as a world leader in the earth, material and energy sciences and engineering. He is committed to helping train students to create the new knowledge needed to solve some of the greatest challenges of our time. He also serves as professor of geography and earth system science.
College of Education
1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics, Cornell University; receiving honorary doctorate of humane letters
Ehrenberg has been a Cornell faculty member for 35 years. He is a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow and is director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute. From 1995 to 1998 he served as Cornell’s vice president for academic programs, planning and budgeting. Ehrenberg was an elected member of the Cornell Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2010. New York Gov. David Paterson nominated him for membership on the SUNY board of trustees in May 2009 for a term ending in June 2013, and the New York State Senate confirmed his appointment in March 2010. Ehrenberg earned a bachelor of arts in mathematics from Harpur College (SUNY Binghamton) and a master's and doctorate in economics from Northwestern University. He received an honorary doctor of science degree from SUNY in 2008.
http://live.psu.edu/story/52713
College of Engineering
8 p.m. Friday, May 13, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Kenneth Huntsman, '74, co-founder, America Online
Huntsman created Sprintmail, one of the first commercially successful electronic mail systems. He and a group of co-workers at Control Video Corp. formed Quantum Computer Services (QCS) in 1985. In November of that year, QCS unveiled a service called America Online, the company's eventual name. At AOL, Huntsman served in a number of positions, including systems programmers and systems architecture director. He oversaw the service's expansion and implementation and monitored its performance. Huntsman was elevated to AOL Fellow and served as one AOL Networks' operations group chief technical consultants before retiring in 2007.
College of Health and Human Development and School of Nursing
3 p.m. Saturday, May 14, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Laurie A. Garrett, senior fellow for global health, Council on Foreign Relations
Garrett is the only writer ever to have been awarded all three of the Big "Ps" of journalism: the Peabody, the Polk and the Pulitzer. Her expertise includes global health systems, chronic and infectious diseases, and bioterrorism. Garrett is the best-selling author of "The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance" (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1994) and "Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health (Hyperion Press, 2000)." She has served in her current position at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York since 2004.
http://www.hhdev.psu.edu/commencement
College of Information Sciences and Technology
3 p.m. Saturday, May 14, Eisenhower Auditorium
Daniel S. Mead '75, '77 MBA, president and chief executive officer, Verizon Wireless
Mead is president and chief executive officer of the largest wireless company in the United States. Before assuming his current position in 2010, he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer, responsible for nationwide operations and performance for all customer segments. Mead was one of the founding senior executives of Verizon Wireless in 2000 and served as president of the company's Midwest area, a 15-state region that stretches from Pennsylvania to the Dakotas and from Minnesota to Kentucky. He has also held leadership roles in various telecommunications functions with Verizon and its predecessor companies. In addition to serving as a member on the Verizon Wireless Board of Representatives, Mead is a member of the board of directors and an officer of CTIA, the wireless industry trade association. Also, Mead is on the board of ISIS, an emerging mobile commerce company. He earned an MBA and a bachelor's degree in quantitative business analysis and finance from Penn State. The University named Mead an Alumni Fellow in 2008, and in June 2010 he also received the Penn State Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor given to a graduate by the University.
College of the Liberal Arts
6 p.m. Saturday, May 14, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Raymond Lombra ’68g, ’71g, professor of economics and senior adviser to the dean, College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State
Lombra joined the University faculty in 1977 after serving as a senior staff economist and section chief at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. A recipient of the College's Outstanding Teaching Award, he is proud of having supervised 40 dissertations at Penn State. He served as associate dean from 1992 through 2010, and his contributions to the college have been recognized with the Raymond Lombra Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Lombra's research expertise centers on monetary economics, especially the determination of financial asset prices domestically and globally, and the formulation and implementation of monetary policy. He is the author of more than 80 articles and six books. He also has served as a consultant to the Federal Reserve System, the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. Treasury, International Monetary Fund and several private financial firms.
Eberly College of Science
9 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Joseph A. Miller Jr., '66 Ph.D., executive vice president and chief technology officer, Corning Inc.
Miller, a Penn State alumnus, joined Corning Incorporated in July 2001 as senior vice president and chief technology officer. He was named to his current position in March 2002. Prior to joining Corning, Miller was with E.I. DuPont de Nemours Inc., where he served as chief technology officer and senior vice president for Research & Development since 1994. He began his career with DuPont in 1966 as a research chemist in polymer science. He also held a variety of positions in research and development, manufacturing, business and marketing. Miller received a bachelor of science degree from Virginia Military Institute and a doctoral degree in chemistry from Penn State. He is a member of numerous science and technology organizations, including the National Academy of Engineering, American Association for the Advancement of Science-Fellow and the Industrial Research Institute. He is on the board of directors of Greatbatch Inc. and Dow Corning.
The Graduate School
5 p.m. Sunday, May 15, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Donald Hambrick '79 Ph.D., Evan Pugh Professor and Smeal Chaired Professor of Management, Penn State
An internationally recognized scholar in the field of top management, Hambrick is the author of numerous articles, chapters and books on the topics of strategy formulation, strategy implementation, executive staffing and incentives, and the composition and processes of top management teams. His recent book, "Navigating Change: How CEOs, Top Teams and Boards Steer Transformation," presents leading-edge thinking for executives who are embarking on corporate change initiatives. Another book, "Strategic Leadership: Top Executives and Their Effects on Organizations," is extensively used by scholars of executive leadership. He also conducted the widely noted worldwide study of executive leadership, "Reinventing the CEO." He is an acknowledged leader in his field, serving as president of the prestigious Academy of Management in 1992-93. He also has served on the board of directors of the Strategic Management Society and on the editorial boards of almost all the major scholarly journals in his field.
Schreyer Honors College Medals Ceremony
5 p.m. Friday, May 13, Eisenhower Auditorium
The Scholar medal will be presented during this ceremony to Schreyer Scholars who will be graduating during spring commencement ceremonies held by their respective academic colleges. The medal represents successful completion of an honor thesis and the college's other academic requirements and recognizes each graduating Scholar's achievements.
Tri-Service ROTC Commissioning
3 p.m. Friday, May 13, Schwab Auditorium
Speaker: Gen. William E. (Kip) Ward (Ret.), '79 M.A., former commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)
Ward became the first commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Stuttgart, Germany, on Oct. 1, 2007, a position he held through his retirement in March 2011. AFRICOM is one of six unified geographic commands within the Department of Defense unified command structure. Prior to holding that position, Ward was deputy commander, Headquarters U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany, and previously served as the deputy commanding general/chief of staff, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army. While in this capacity he was selected by the Secretary of State to serve as the United States security coordinator, Israel–Palestinian Authority, where he served from March through December 2005. Ward was commissioned into the Army infantry in June 1971. His military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and U.S. Army War College. He holds a master's degree in political science from Penn State and a bachelor's degree in political science from Morgan State University. His military service has included overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel, two tours in Germany and a wide variety of assignments in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.
Pennsylvania College of Technology
Community Arts Center, Williamsport
-- 3 p.m. Friday, May 13: School of Construction and Design Technologies and School of Health Sciences
-- 10 a.m. Saturday, May 14: School of Business and Computer Technologies, School of Hospitality and School of Transportation Technology
-- 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14: School of Industrial and Engineering Technologies, School of Integrated Studies and School of Natural Resources Management
Speakers: selected from among graduating students.
http://www.pct.edu/commencement/commencement.htm