December 02, 2015

State System universities schedule December commencements

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Harrisburg – Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education universities will hold their fall commencement ceremonies Dec. 11-14. Outstanding students, alumni and faculty are among the scheduled speakers who will address the new graduates, their families and other guests who will attend the programs.

A complete schedule follows:

Bloomsburg – Scott Lowe, chair of the university’s Department of Philosophy, and Cynthia Venn, a professor in the Department of Environmental, Geographical and Geological Sciences, will address undergraduates in separate ceremonies to be held Dec. 12 in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Lowe will speak at 10 a.m. to graduates in the colleges of Education and Liberal Arts while Venn will speak at 2:30 p.m. to those receiving their degrees from the colleges of Business and Science and Technology.

Graduate degrees will be awarded in a ceremony scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., Dec. 11, also in Haas Center for the Arts.
California – U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Alan R. Lynn (’79) will address both undergraduates and graduate students who will receive their degrees in separate ceremonies scheduled for Dec. 11 and 12 in the Convocation Center. Lynn is director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, a combat support agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, and commander of the Joint Force Headquarters–Department of Defense Information Networks based at Fort Meade, Md.
The graduate ceremony is scheduled for 7 p.m., Dec. 11. The undergraduate ceremony will be held at 10 a.m., Dec. 12.
Clarion – Charles P. Leach Jr., a member of the Clarion University Foundation Inc., for 27 years, will address graduates and receive an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree at 1 p.m., Dec. 12, in Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium. Leach is CEO of Charles P. Leach Agency, Inc., of New Bethlehem. He retired from the foundation board in June. He was board president from 1995 to 2014 and served on the Master Planning Committee since 2002.
East Stroudsburg – Dr. Cynthia Boddie-Willis, a health professional and consultant, along with graduating students Katie Nork of Mountain Top, an undergraduate communication studies major, and John McKnight of Easton, a doctoral student in the joint ESU-IUP administration and leadership studies program, will speak at the combined winter commencement ceremony at 8:45 a.m., Dec. 12, in Koehler Fieldhouse.
Edinboro – Dr. Hugo Keim, co-founder along with his wife, Alicia, of the ChairScholars Foundation, which provides scholarships to students with disabilities, will address undergraduates at 10 a.m., Dec. 12, in McComb Fieldhouse. The Keims also will receive honorary degrees during the ceremony.
Graduate students will receive their degrees in a separate ceremony scheduled for 2 p.m., Dec. 12, in Louis C. Cole Auditorium in Memorial Hall.
Indiana – Distinguished University Professor Maureen C. MuHugh of the Psychology Department will speak at separate ceremonies for graduate and undergraduate degree recipients to be held Dec. 12.
Mark H. Bowser of Templeton, who will receive a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition, also will speak during the undergraduate ceremony, which will begin at 1 p.m., in Kovalchick Athletic and Convention Complex. Meghan B. Ferraro of Brookville, who will receive a doctoral degree in educational and school psychology, will speak during the graduate program, which will begin at 9:30 a.m., in Fisher Auditorium.
Kutztown – Students Lauren Smallwood and Dennis Arms and finance professor John S. Walker will speak during fall commencement ceremonies scheduled for 9 a.m., Dec. 12, in O’Pake Fieldhouse. Smallwood is graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and a minor in sociology. Arms is graduating with a principal certification and a supervisor of curriculum and instruction certification. Dr. Walker joined the faculty at Kutztown University in the fall of 2006. He teaches courses on financial markets and institutions as well as statistics courses. He also teaches an applied investment management class for the student-managed investment fund.
Lock Haven – Albert Jones (’99), director of human resources for First Quality Products, a leading manufacturer of non-discretionary consumer products located in central Pennsylvania, will address graduates at 2 p.m., Dec. 12, in Thomas Fieldhouse.
Mansfield – Dr. Russell Dodson, semi-retired faculty member in the Department of Geosciences, will speak at 11 a.m., Dec. 12, in Decker Gymnasium. Dr. Dodson joined the Mansfield faculty in 1982 and served as chair of the Department of Geography and Geology, now known as the Department of Geosciences, from 1993 until 2014. He developed the Environmental Science program in Geography at MU and has been adviser to the Geography Club since its inception in 1986.
Millersville – State Rep. Jordan Harris (’06), will address undergraduates at 2 p.m., Dec. 13, in Pucillo Gymnasium. Harris represents the 186th Legislative District in Philadelphia. He was named one of the Philadelphia Tribune magazine’s “10 people under 40 to watch” and is the president of the board of directors at Lincoln Day Educational Center, the oldest continuously operating African-American day school.
Shippensburg – Three alumni will speak during separate ceremonies for undergraduate and graduate degree recipients.
Doug Harbach (’82), director of communications for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, will speak during the undergraduate ceremony, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., Dec. 12, in Heiges Field House.
Mohammad Siafulla Moosaraza (’10) and Neil A. Weaver (’11), both of whom earned master’s degrees in computer science, will present the address at the master’s degree ceremony at 7 p.m., Dec. 11, in the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center. Moosaraza and Weaver are co-founders of Radiance Systems, an IT consulting firm specializing in advanced analytics, reporting, and data warehousing.
Slippery Rock – The fall commencement program will be held beginning at 11 a.m., Dec. 12, in Morrow Field House. No speaker is scheduled.
West Chester – Dr. Lee Whitmore (’87 and ’89), vice president for education outreach and social entrepreneurship at Berklee College of Music, will address undergraduates in the colleges of Arts & Sciences and Visual & Performing Arts at 10 a.m., Dec. 13, while Dr. Vincent Hudson (’83), chief operating officers of OAA Orthopaedic Specialists, will address undergraduates in the colleges of Business and Public Affairs, Education and Health Sciences at 1:30 p.m. Both ceremonies will be held in Hollinger Fieldhouse.
Dr. Warren Randall (’92), president and chief investment officer of Warren Financial Services, will address those receiving graduate degrees at 7 p.m., Dec. 14, also in Hollinger Fieldhouse.
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 107,000 degree-seeking students and thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs. Collectively, the 14 universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300 degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State System university alumni live in Pennsylvania.
The State System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operate branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.