Walter Peechatka, Penn State Mont Alto alumnus and member of Penn State's Board of Trustees will serve as the commencement speaker during the annual ceremony at Penn State Mont Alto on May 13. The spring commencement ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in the Multipurpose Activities Center. Approximately 140 students are expected to participate.
Peechatka is a 1961 graduate of Penn State with a degree in forestry. He is the executive vice president of PennAg Industries Association in Harrisburg. He was elected to the Penn State Board of Trustees in 2002 to represent agricultural societies. As a trustee he serves as vice chairman of the Boards Finance and Physical Plant Committee and as a member of the Architect Selection and Design Subcommittee. In 1997 he completed a 30-year career with the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving the last six years of that career as deputy secretary of agriculture. In his current position he manages the affairs of a trade association and represents the interests of 600 member companies before the executive and legislative branches of state government.
Peechatka was honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Conservation Districts, the Presidential Citation from the Soil and Water Conservation Society of America, the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts Exemplary Service Award, and the Meritorious Service Award from Gov. Dick Thornburgh. He also was honored in 2003 with the Penn State Mont Alto Centennial Fellows Award.
Tickets are required for guest admission to the ceremony. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The gymnasium doors open at 9 a.m. Guests are asked to be seated by 9:45 a.m. The first row of seats will be reserved for those guests who are unable to navigate stairs, and there will be wheelchair-accessible seats on the floor of the gymnasium. For more information, or for requests for special seating and interpreters, contact Linda Monn at (717) 749-6191. Light refreshments will be available following the ceremony.