UMass Amherst Announces Commencement Weekend Events

April 25, 2008

Contact:

Patrick J. Callahan 413/545-0444

AMHERST, Mass. – Commencement weekend activities at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will include a ceremony for undergraduates on Saturday, May 24 and separate ceremonies on Friday, May 23 for the Graduate School and the Stockbridge School.

At the Undergraduate Commencement at Warren P. McGuirk Alumni Stadium from 12:30-2:30 p.m., approximately 4,000 graduates will receive bachelor’s degrees. Honorary degrees will be awarded to alumnus and actor Bill Pullman and Charles Feldberg, an alumnus and retired multinational food executive. UMass President Jack M. Wilson and Thomas W. Cole, Jr., interim chancellor, will offer brief remarks. Graduating senior Katie Huston will be the student speaker. In addition, Distinguished Achievement Awards will be given to Michael R. Haley, Dorothy and Joseph Gavin and Edward Marram.

Eleven members of the graduating class will be honored as 21st Century Leaders. This is the sixth year of the awards sponsored by the Chancellor’s Office and the UMass Amherst Alumni Association. The presentation of the senior awards during the Undergraduate Commencement highlights the accomplishments of students and recognizes the support received from their families.

“Commencement recognizes the accomplishments of our students, celebrates exemplary academic performance, and honors outstanding alumni and friends of the university,” says Cole. “It is also a time to offer congratulations to students, their families and friends at the post-Commencement activities.”

Receptions for graduates and their parents and guests will be held by each college and school and hosted by their deans. These events will be in separate tents adjacent to the stadium after the commencement ceremonies.


Graduate School Commencement

The Graduate School Commencement will be held Friday, May 23 at 2 p.m. at the Mullins Center where approximately 1,200 candidates will receive master’s and doctoral degrees. Receiving honorary degrees will be alumnus David Pimentel, emeritus professor of insect ecology and agricultural sciences at Cornell University; Peter Tolan, actor, film writer, producer and director and television writer, and songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman. John R. Mullin, dean of the Graduate School, will offer a welcome. Cole and Wilson will deliver brief remarks.


Stockbridge School Commencement

Also on May 23, approximately 100 candidates will receive associate of science degrees from the Stockbridge School at an 11 a.m. ceremony in Bowker Auditorium. The guest speaker will be Daniel Mayer, a 1993 alumnus of the arboriculture program who runs a business in eastern Massachusetts. Steve Goodwin, dean of the College of Natural Resources and the Environment, and Martha G. Baker, interim director of the Stockbridge School, will give brief opening remarks.


Additional events on May 23 will include:

• School of Nursing Convocation, Fine Arts Center, Concert Hall, 5 p.m.

• Army ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, Bernie Dallas Room in Goodell Hall, 9:30 a.m.

• Air Force ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, Bernie Dallas Room in Goodell Hall, 4:30 p.m.


Other Commencement-related events include the Commonwealth College Honors Convocation at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 24 at the Mullins Center, and the annual Commencement Ball at 9 p.m. Thursday, May 22 in the Student Union Ballroom.

A full schedule of departmental events related to Commencement may be found in the Commencement Information Booklet at www.umass.edu/commencement/2008.

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