University Park, Pa. -- Through the end of the fall 2009 semester, Penn State conferred a total of 648,338 degrees. As of May 1, through the spring 2010 semester the University's total number of graduates should be approximately 660,908.
This spring Penn State expects to award an estimated 12,570 diplomas to students University-wide who are scheduled to complete 588 associate, 10,241 baccalaureate, 1,182 master's, 149 medical, 195 law and 215 doctoral degrees.
At University Park, it is estimated that 11 students will receive associate degrees and 8,603 will be awarded baccalaureate degrees. Approximately 908 master's degree students are expected to graduate, as are 215 doctoral degree candidates.
Following is a compilation of commencement ceremonies and speaker information for 40 events -- 38 commencement ceremonies, one ROTC commissioning and one honors medal ceremony -- at Penn State's campuses and Penn College. Additional information is available at http://commencement.psu.edu online.
Penn State Abington
10 a.m. Friday, May 14, Athletic Building
Speaker: Barry Brandeis '68, '70
Brandeis is retired from Twin ERA Ltd., a business he and his wife Renee founded together. He attended Penn State Abington (then Penn State Ogontz) and graduated from University Park with a degree in psychology. His wife also is a graduate of Penn State as are their two children. Brandeis also holds two master of business administration degrees, one from Penn State in 1970 and another from the Barnard M. Baruch College in 1974. He served on the executive committee of the Abington College Alumni Society and has supported several scholarships and an endowment to give a membership in the Penn State Alumni Association to a graduating senior each year.
http://www.abington.psu.edu/psasite/cs/commencement-spring2010.html
Penn State Altoona
10 a.m. Saturday, May 8, Jaffa Shrine, Altoona
Speaker: Zane Gates, medical director of the Altoona Primary Health Network.
Gates grew up in a low-income housing development in Altoona; the good influences in his life allowed him to beat the odds and eventually attend college, first becoming a pharmacist, then a medical doctor and author. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he serves as the medical director of the Altoona Primary Health Network. Gates was inspired by his mother, Gloria, to be a hard worker and to treat others with compassion, so in 1999 he founded the Gloria Gates Memorial Foundation to reach young children from low-income families so they will have hopes and goals for their future. Gates also is the founder of Operation Safety Net and Partnering for Health Services, free health clinics in Altoona for adults with no access to health insurance.
http://www.altoona.psu.edu/commencement/
Penn State Beaver
7 p.m. Friday, May 14, Auditorium, Student Union Building
Speaker: James Janicki, vice president and general manager of Clinical Diagnostics, Life Technologies.
Janicki attended Penn State Beaver and graduated from Penn State in 1986 with a degree in chemical engineering. He is vice president and general manager of Clinical Diagnostics, Life Technologies, a $3.5 billion company in Carlsbad, Calif. Clinical Diagnostics applies the newest molecular diagnostics (DNA testing) and the latest biomarker and antibody analysis technology to the transplant diagnostics market. The company's products are used by hospitals around the world to determine the best match for patients awaiting donated organs or bone marrow. The company also is working on a new technology to detect early signs of organ rejection to allow early medical intervention.
http://live.psu.edu/story/45340
Penn State Berks
10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Beaver Community Center
Speaker: John J. Romano, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses, Penn State.
Romano has served Penn State for 42 years, most recently as vice president of Commonwealth Campuses from 2005 through his retirement on June 30. Assuming that role when Penn State's campuses were restructured, Romano has helped to build disciplinary communities among the 19 Commonwealth Campuses and University Park, streamlined the promotion and tenure process, and overseen steady growth in enrollment. Prior to his position as vice president, Romano served from 1993 to 2005 as Penn State's vice provost and dean for enrollment management and administration, where he provided leadership for the offices of Undergraduate Admissions, Student Aid and the University Registrar. Before being named vice provost, Romano served as campus executive officer from 1985 to 1993 for Penn State York, where he was instrumental in growing enrollment and helping the campus secure funding for a number of new state-of-the-art facilities. Romano has been a leader in general education where he has served as an executive council member, executive director, and finally as president of the Association for General and Liberal Studies, a national organization committed to undergraduate general education reform and innovation.
Penn State Brandywine
10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Commons Building
Speaker: Michael DiBerardinis, commissioner of Parks and Recreation and special adviser to the mayor on libraries, City of Philadelphia.
DiBerardinis served as Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), overseeing 117 state parks, 26 forest districts and seven regional community offices, from 2003 until he assumed his current position in April 2009. Under DiBerardinis, the DCNR managed 2.5 million acres of public land and administered grant programs that dispensed more than $80 million annually. Prior to 2003, DiBerardinis served as executive director of the Campaign for Working Families and vice president of programs for the William Penn Foundation. DiBerardinis’ long history of public administration includes serving as commissioner of the Philadelphia Department of Recreation from 1992 to 2000. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from St. Joseph’s University.
http://brandywine.psu.edu/Academics/gradinfo.htm
Penn State College of Medicine
1 p.m. Sunday, May 16, Milton Hershey School Founders Hall
Speaker: The Hon. Louis W. Sullivan, president emeritus, Morehouse School of Medicine
Sullivan served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1989 to 1993. Prior to and following his service as H.H.S. Secretary, he was president of Morehouse School of Medicine, which he now serves as president emeritus. He is co-chair of The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. A graduate of Morehouse College, he earned his medical degree from Boston University and is certified in internal medicine and hematology. The recipient of 45 honorary degrees, he served on the faculties of the medical schools at Harvard, Seton Hall and Boston universities before arriving at Morehouse in 1975. He also was the founding president of the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools.
http://www.pennstatehershey.org/web/educationalaffairs/home/upcoming/graduation
Penn State Dickinson School of Law
2 p.m. Saturday, May 15, Outdoor Ceremony in Carlisle
Speaker: The Hon. Thomas J. Ridge, president and CEO of Ridge Global LLC.
Ridge is the president and CEO of Ridge Global LLC, helping businesses and governments address needs such as risk management and global trade security, technology integration and crisis management. Following the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, Ridge became the first assistant to the president for homeland security and then the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security until 2005. He was twice elected governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1995 to 2001, and prior to that was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and was re-elected five times before serving as governor. After graduating from Harvard, Ridge attended The Dickinson School of Law but was drafted into the Army, where he served in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star for Valor, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. After returning to Pennsylvania and to Dickinson, he earned his law degree and was in private practice before becoming assistant district attorney in Erie County.
http://law.psu.edu/office_for_student_services/penn_state_law_commencement_2010
http://live.psu.edu/story/45369
Penn State DuBois
2 p.m. Saturday, May 15, Gymnasium, Multipurpose Building
Speaker: State Sen. Joseph B. Scarnati, (R-Pennsylvania's 25th District)
Scarnati is serving his third term representing the residents of the 25th District, which includes Cameron, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, Tioga and parts of Clearfield and Warren counties. On Jan. 2, 2007, he was sworn in as president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate, the third-highest constitutional office in the state. In November 2008 he became Pennsylvania's 31st lieutenant governor with the passing of Catherine Baker Knoll. He will fill out the remainder of Lt. Gov. Knoll's term, which ends Jan. 18, 2011. Pennsylvania's Constitution requires him to hold both positions simultaneously. Scarnati is a native of Brockway, Jefferson County, and a lifelong resident of the 25th District. After graduating from Penn State DuBois, he became a third-generation business owner in the Brockway area.
http://www.ds.psu.edu/Academics/DuBoisCommencement.htm
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
2 p.m. Saturday, May 15, Louis J. Tullio Arena, downtown Erie
Speaker: Rev. Charles Brock, director, Institute on the American Dream, and senior research associate in religious studies, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Brock is the director and founder of the Institute on the American Dream at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, and senior research associate in religious studies in the college’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Before joining Penn State Behrend in 1999, Brock spent 35 years as a teacher and chaplain at Mansfield College, Oxford University in England, and currently is an emeritus fellow at Oxford. He has lectured in America, Europe and Japan on aspects of American religious and social thought. A native of Erie, Brock currently serves as a minister of First Universalist Church in Girard. He also served as minister of Wheatley United Reformed Church, in a village five miles outside Oxford, where he resided for more than three decades.
http://behrend.psu.edu/academic/registrar/commencement.htm
Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus
10 a.m. May 15, Penn State Fayette Community Center
Speaker: Terry E. McMillen Sr., president and principal engineer, McMillen Engineering
McMillen grew up in Brownsville, Pa., and earned an associate degree in engineering from Penn State. He attended Penn State Fayette as a student, and also served as a member of the campus faculty from 1981 to 2000, teaching engineering mechanics and basic mathematics. McMillen founded McMillen Engineering in 1977. He is a longtime supporter of Penn State Fayette and its students. In 2008, he was honored as the recipient of the 23rd Outstanding Fellow of Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus Award.
Penn State Great Valley
7 p.m. Friday, May 14, campus grounds
Speaker: Brian O’Neill, founder and chair, O’Neill Properties
O’Neill is founder and chair of O’Neill Properties, a real estate development and construction company founded in 1988 and dedicated to transforming abandoned properties into viable residential, retail and corporate communities. O’Neill's unique vision for community growth and redevelopment has earned him recognition from both business and local communities. In 2001 he received the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from Ernst & Young and the Philadelphia Business Journal and recently was named “Citizen of the Year” by the PenJerDel Council, Philadelphia. O’Neill is committed to supporting the Philadelphia region’s youth groups and is actively involved with St. Edmond’s Home for Children, Camp Hill Special School and the Philadelphia chapters of the Catholic Youth Organization, Time for Teens and Inner City Games, among others.
http://www.sgps.psu.edu/current/commencement/default.ashx?terms=commencement
Penn State Greater Allegheny
11 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Wunderley Gymnasium
Speaker: Esther L. Bush, president and CEO, Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh
As president and CEO with the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, Bush has initiated programs for home ownership, youth development and adult professional development. She initiated the first charter school in Pittsburgh and has published three books, two African-American directories and a series of research papers on issues facing the African-American community. In 1997, the University of Hartford in Connecticut presented Bush with an honorary doctorate in law degree. She received her bachelor’s degree at Morgan State College and her master’s degree at The Johns Hopkins University, both in Maryland.
Penn State Harrisburg
9:30 a.m. May 15, Giant Center, Hershey.
Speaker: Rob McCord, treasurer of Pennsylvania
Rob McCord took office as the 45th treasurer of Pennsylvania on January 20, 2009. From 1994 through 2007, McCord worked as a senior executive at Safeguard Scientifics, founded the Eastern Technology Fund and served as co-founder and managing director of Pennsylvania Early Stage Partners. In addition, from 1996 through 2007, he led the Eastern Technology Council, a trade association that served hundreds of fast-growing companies. McCord earned his undergraduate degree in economics and history at Harvard University, and he earned his master of business administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
http://php.scripts.psu.edu/dept/iit/hbg/commencement/index.php
Penn State Hazleton
7 p.m. Fri., May 14 Gymnasium, Physical Education Building
Speaker: Susan Saint Sing, Lib '78 '04 Ph.D., author and crew coach, Stetson University
Saint Sing is a noted athlete, coach, author and educator whose eighth book, “The Eight: A Season in the Tradition of Harvard Crewing,” was recently published. While on a lacrosse scholarship at Penn State, she fell while doing gymnastics and broke her neck and back. She suffered paralysis and major soft tissue damage, which caused her to attend a pain control center for 10 years. During her recovery, she discovered the link between spirituality and sports. In November, she was invited to the Vatican where she had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI and spoke to a group about spirituality in sports. A resident of Stuart, Fla., she is also a crew coach at Stetson University.
Penn State Lehigh Valley
11 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Stabler Arena, Bethlehem
Speaker: John Crowley, president and CEO of Amicus Therapeutics
Crowley, an American business and social entrepreneur whose family is the subject of a major motion picture titled "Extraordinary Measures," is president and CEO of Amicus Therapeutics, a 100-person publicly held biopharmaceutical company working on the development of drugs to treat a range of human genetic diseases. His involvement in the biotech industry spans more than a decade and stems from the 1998 diagnosis of his two youngest children, Megan and Patrick, with Pompe disease, a rare and fatal neuromuscular disorder. In 2000, frustrated with the pace of Pompe research and wanting to do whatever he and his family could to change the course of their children’s diagnosis, Crowley quit his job as a marketing director at Bristol-Myers Squibb. He helped to co-found a five-person start-up biotech company focused exclusively on developing a treatment for Pompe. The company succeeded and was acquired for nearly $200 million by Genzyme Corporation. In January 2003, Patrick and Megan began to receive an experimental enzyme therapy developed by Genzyme that has saved their lives; they continue to fight their disease.
http://live.psu.edu/story/43946
Penn State Mont Alto
10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Multipurpose Activities Center
Speaker: Kevin H. Mosser, M.D., senior vice president of WellSpan Health
Mosser is the senior vice president of WellSpan Health, an integrated health system that operates two hospitals, more than 60 sites of care and seven residency and fellowship programs. WellSpan Health serves a population of more than 450,000 people with more than 8,000 employees, and in 2009 generated in excess of $1 billion in revenue. Mosser also is a member of the Penn State Mont Alto Advisory Board.
http://live.psu.edu/story/45199
Penn State New Kensington
10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Athletics Center
Speaker: U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, PA-04
Altmire represents Pennsylvania's 4th District in the United States House of Representatives, which comprises parts of six counties in western Pennsylvania. The second-term Democrat has become one of Congress' leading voices on health care, small business and veterans issues. He is a subcommittee chairman on the Small Business Committee. A native of Lower Burrell, Altimire holds a master's degree in health administration from George Washington University.
http://live.psu.edu/story/45270
Penn State Schuylkill
10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Campus Green
Speaker: Amilcar Arroyo, Editor El Mensajero Newspaper
Arroyo began the monthly Hispanic newspaper, "El Mensajero" in Hazelton in 2004. In 2007 he sold the newspaper to Wilkes Barre Publishing Company and was named editor. Previously he hosted the TV talk show "Window on the Region" on Channel 13 as well as "La Noche del Sabor Latino" for radio station WAZL 1490 AM, both in Hazelton. In 2004 he began the Scranton-based newscast, "For Your Information."
http://www.sl.psu.edu/28655.htm#NEWS28655
Penn State Shenango
7:30 p.m. Friday, May 14, Auditorium
Speaker: John N. Lechner, Mercer County Commissioner
Lechner is a first-term Republican commissioner and serves as secretary of the Mercer County Board of Commissioners. He is a 1970 graduate of Gannon University in Erie, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. He also holds a one-year certification in law enforcement from Penn State and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Leadership School, the U.S. Air Force Advanced Leadership School, the U.S. Air Force Command and General Staff College and Penn State's Police Executive Training Course.
Penn State Wilkes-Barre
10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Athletics and Recreation Building
Speaker: David Reese, chairman of the board, API Systems Inc.
Director, advisor and/or consultant to a number of companies, including API Systems, Inc., Reese previously served as president and chief executive officer of ACTV Inc., a New York City-based digital media company and leader in the provision of technical and creative services, tools and proprietary applications for digital television, broadband media and a number of new media initiatives. In 2003, and again in 2004, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognized ACTV and Reese’s team with an Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Television for a Single Program.” Reese contributes significantly to philanthropic activities at Penn State where he was recognized as an Alumni Fellow (2000) and Volunteer of the Year (2004). He was the first chair of Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology Advisory Board and currently serves on Penn State Wilkes-Barre's Advisory Board.
Penn State Worthington Scranton
6 p.m. Friday, May 14, Multi-Purpose Building
Speaker: Thomas Zenty III, CEO of University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio
Thomas Zenty III has been the chief executive officer of University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio since 2003. He presides over a system of more than 24,000 physicians and employees that serve patients throughout Northeast Ohio at more than 150 locations. It is also Northeast Ohio's second largest private sector employer. A PSU alumnus, he is a native of Northeastern Pennsylvania and attended Penn State Worthington Scranton.
http://www.ws.psu.edu/Academics/commencement.htm
Penn State York
6 p.m. May 14, Pullo Family Performing Arts Center
Speaker: John J. Romano, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses, Penn State
Romano has served Penn State for 42 years, most recently as vice president of Commonwealth Campuses from 2005 through his retirement on June 30. Assuming that role when Penn State's campuses were restructured, Romano has helped to build disciplinary communities among the 19 Commonwealth Campuses and University Park, streamlined the promotion and tenure process, and overseen steady growth in enrollment. Prior to his position as vice president, Romano served from 1993 to 2005 as Penn State's vice provost and dean for enrollment management and administration, where he provided leadership for the offices of Undergraduate Admissions, Student Aid and the University Registrar. Before being named vice provost, Romano served as campus executive officer from 1985 to 1993 for Penn State York, where he was instrumental in growing enrollment and helping the campus secure funding for a number of new state-of-the-art facilities. Romano has been a leader in general education where he has served as an executive council member, executive director, and finally as president of the Association for General and Liberal Studies, a national organization committed to undergraduate general education reform and innovation.
http://www2.yk.psu.edu/commencement/index.html
Pennsylvania College of Technology
Community Arts Center, Williamsport
3 p.m. Friday, May 14, for the School of Business and Computer Technologies, the School of Hospitality and the School of Transportation Technology
10 a.m. Saturday, May 15, for the School of Industrial and Engineering Technologies, the School of Integrated Studies and the School of Natural Resources Management.
1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 15, for the School of Construction and Design Technologies and the School of Health Sciences.
Speakers: faculty and students
http://www.pct.edu/commencement/commencement.htm
Penn State University Park:
College of Agricultural Sciences
9 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Eisenhower Auditorium
Speaker: Russell C. Redding, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture
Redding was unanimously confirmed as Secretary of Agriculture for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in December 2009. A native of Adams County, he has spent more than 20 years serving Pennsylvania in Harrisburg and in Washington, D.C., in a variety of roles. As agricultural policy adviser and executive assistant to U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford, Redding provided leadership to the agriculture industry and supported Pennsylvania on critical issues such as community and economic development, volunteerism/community service and national agriculture policies. In 1995, he joined the leadership of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, providing oversight and guidance to bureaus as a deputy secretary. He began managing day-to-day operations of the department in 2003, when he was named executive deputy secretary. Redding earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural and extension education from the College of Agricultural Sciences.
College of Arts and Architecture
Noon Saturday, May 15, Eisenhower Auditorium
Speaker: Louis D. Astorino, architect and founder of Astorino
Astorino is an architect and founder of Astorino, a firm of architects, engineers, landscape architects and interior designers based in Pittsburgh since 1972. As chairman, he is actively involved in the firm's design quality reviews, strategic planning, business development and executive leadership. Engineering News Record has consistently ranked the firm as one of America's Top 500 Design Firms. The founder was named one of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Top 50 Business Leaders in 2001, and in 2005 was recognized as the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the Real Estate and Construction category. He was named a Penn State Alumni Fellow in 1989 and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus in 2006.
Smeal College of Business
Sunday, May 16, Bryce Jordan Center
10 a.m. for accounting, finance and management majors
1 p.m. for actuarial science, economics, management and information systems, marketing and supply chain and information systems majors
Speaker: Peter J. Cocoziello, president and CEO, Advance Realty Group
Cocoziello founded Advance Realty Group in 1979 with the mission to be the premier developer of creative real estate solutions. Today, Advance Realty has a 5-million-square-foot portfolio in New Jersey and the Washington, D.C., region along with more than 5,000 housing units, 1 million square feet of retail space, and 3 million square feet of office space in the development pipeline. Cocoziello is very active both professionally and personally and serves on and/or chairs several boards, including the New Jersey Network Foundation, the Italian American Heritage Foundation, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the World Presidents Organization. A 1973 alumnus of the Smeal College of Business, he serves on the college’s Board of Visitors and co-chairs the advisory board of Smeal’s Institute for Real Estate Studies. In October 2007, the Penn State Alumni Association presented Cocoziello with its Alumni Fellow Award, the association’s highest honor.
College of Communications
Noon Saturday, May 15, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Ken Burns, filmmaker; Penn State honorary degree recipient, doctor of humane letters
Burns has earned seven Emmy Awards and been nominated for two Academy Awards for his groundbreaking documentaries. Best known for his style of using archival footage and photographs, Burns' credits include: "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" (2009), "The War" (2007), "Jazz" (2001), "Baseball" (1994) and "The Civil War" (1990).
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
8 p.m. Friday, May 14, Eisenhower Auditorium
Speaker: Raúl Benavides '87g, vice president of Business Development, Companía de Minas Buenaventura
Benavides has been vice president of Business Development for Compañía de Minas Buenaventura in Lima, Peru, the largest gold mining company in South America, since 1992. He is also a member of the executive committee of Yanacocha and board member of Cerro Verde and several related companies. Since 1995, he has been a professor of mining administration at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Peur, has served as president of the Instituto de Ingenieros de Minas (Institute of Mining Engineering), and was the founder and president of the Instituto de Seguridad Minera del Peru (Mining Safety Institute of Peru) from 1996 to 2000. He also received the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ GEMS Alumni Achievement Award in 1999.
College of Education
4 p.m. Sunday, May 16, Bryce Jordan Center
James G. Cibulka, President, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)
Since the beginning of his tenure as president of NCATE in 2008, Cibulka has initiated and now oversees implementation of a redesign and transformation of NCATE accreditation to ensure that it serves as a lever for change and reform in educator preparation, to better meet urgent national prekindergarten through secondary school needs. Prior to his appointment, he served as dean of the College of Education at the University of Kentucky from 2002 to 2008, with appointments as professor in the Department of Educational Leadership Studies and the Department of Education Policy Studies and Evaluation, and was appointed by the governor to the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board, which he served as its chair. Prior to his service in Kentucky, he was associate dean and professor in the University of Maryland’s College of Education and served as chair of the Department of Educational Policy, Planning, and Administration. From 1972 through 1995, Cibulka was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he established the Department of Community Education, and from 1988 to 1995 directed the university's doctoral program in urban education. Cibulka started his career as an administrator for the Chicago Board of Education and as a teacher and administrator in the Model City Community Schools Program in Duluth, Minn. He holds a bachelor's degree in government from Harvard College and received his doctoral degree from the University of Chicago's Department of Education, where he concentrated in the fields of educational administration and political science.
College of Engineering
8 p.m. Friday, May 14, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Thomas L. Roell, group executive of Operations and Risk, Parsons Corporation
A 1969 Penn State electrical engineering graduate, Roell has more than four decades of experience in corporate management, project management and business management. He has served in a number of roles at Parsons Corp., including president of its infrastructure and technology group, senior vice president and manager of operations for infrastructure and technology and manager of constructors and fabricators. Prior to joining the Pasadena, Calif.-based firm, Roell worked at Fluor Federal Services and Westinghouse Electric.
College of Health and Human Development and School of Nursing
3 p.m. Saturday, May 15, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Coquese Washington, head coach, Penn State Women’s Basketball
Washington has been the head coach of the Penn State Women’s Basketball team since 2007, and is the first African-American women’s basketball coach in Penn State history. Prior to that, she spent eight years as associate head coach and assistant coach at Notre Dame, during which time the team amassed a 188-69 record with eight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national championship in 2001. One of the country’s top recruiters, Washington coached five All-Americans and had seven players who were drafted into the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played at the professional level for several years in the American Basketball League and the WNBA, and was a central figure in helping create the WNBA Players Association. She received a bachelor’s degree in history and a juris doctor degree from Notre Dame.
College of Information Sciences and Technology
3 p.m. Saturday, May 15, Eisenhower Auditorium
Speaker: Robert Morgan, co-founder and CEO, MorganFranklin
Since MorganFranklin was founded, Morgan has been responsible for directing corporate strategies and leading the company from a start-up to a mature organization with global reach. His areas of expertise include strategy, organizational design, marketing and communication and solutions development. Prior to forming MorganFranklin, he served as a program manager at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, managing multimillion-dollar systems integration programs for the U.S. Navy, the White House Communications Agency, Special Operations Forces, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His experience encompasses the implementation of fixed-site, mobile and transportable secure communication and IT systems. Morgan holds an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Penn State and a master of business administration from the Florida Institute of Technology. An active member of his community, he serves on the board of directors for the Greater Washington Board of Trade, as well as the board of advisers for Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST).
College of the Liberal Arts
6 p.m. Saturday, May 15, Bryce Jordan Center
Ron Suskind, journalist and author; Penn State honorary degree recipient, doctor of humane letters
Suskind is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He appears on network television and currently writes about national politics and education for Time magazine, New York Times Magazine, Esquire and the Wall Street Journal, where he was senior national affairs reporters and won the 1995 Pultizer Prize for Feature Writing. His acclaimed books include "The Way of the World," "The One Percent Doctrine," "The Price of Loyalty," "A Hope in the Unseen" and "Profiles in Courage for Our Times."
Eberly College of Science
9 a.m. Saturday, May 15, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Peter C. Agre, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology and director, Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University; Penn State honorary degree recipient, doctor of science
Agre shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Roderick MacKinnon of Rockefeller University for the discovery of aquaporins, the key proteins that transport water across cell membranes. Soon after, Agre began working to extend his studies of aquaporins to malaria, addressing the question of whether or not aquaporins could be exploited as a means of treating or preventing the disease. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 2000 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003. He holds two U.S. patents on the isolation, cloning, and expression of aquaporins 1 and 5, and is the principal investigator on two current National Institutes of Health grants. Agre is the 163rd president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the nation's largest scientific organization.
The Graduate School
7 p.m. Sunday, May 16, Bryce Jordan Center
Speaker: Nancy Eaton, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, Penn State
Named dean of University Libraries at Penn State in 1997, Eaton has led the University Libraries through a period of unprecedented change, including the construction of the Paterno Library and renovation of the Pattee Library, utilization of information technology for delivery of new services and digital content throughout the 38 libraries at the 24 campuses of the University, and integration of the 38 libraries of Penn State into a unified library system. A University reorganization in 2005 aligned the Penn State University Press with the University Libraries, when Eaton was given her current title to emphasize her leadership in developing new models of scholarly communications and publishing. She is retiring July 31 and will continue her ties with the University in retirement as dean emerita. Before coming to Penn State, Eaton was dean of Library Services, Iowa State University (1989-1997); director of Libraries and Media Services, University of Vermont (1982-1989); technical services administrator, Atlanta Public Library (1976-1982); automation librarian, State University of New York at Stony Brook (1974-1976); and she held various positions at the University of Texas at Austin (1968-1974). Eaton received her bachelor's degree from Stanford University (1965) and her master of library science from the University of Texas at Austin (1968).
Schreyer Honors College Medals Ceremony
5 p.m. Friday, May 14, Eisenhower Auditorium
Tri-Service ROTC Commissioning
3 p.m. Friday, May 14, Schwab Auditorium
Speaker: Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Sischo, commander, Pennsylvania Air National Guard
Sischo, a command pilot with 4,500 flight hours in A-10 and EC 130J aircraft, is the presiding officer and speaker for the spring commissioning event, at which time 84 cadets and midshipmen from the Army, Air Force and Navy and Marines are scheduled to be commissioned. Sischo completed Air War College in 1999 while serving as vice wing commander, 111th Fighter Wing, Joint Reserve Base, Willow Grove, Pa. In October 2006, he became the assistant adjunct general-Air, Pennsylvania National Guard at the Joint Force Headquarters, Fort Indiantown Gap, Annville, Pa. He was promoted to major general on March 1, 2007. He is a 1977 graduate of Arizona State University.