About 400 eligible to graduate Dec. 19 at UW-Green Bay
About 400 students are eligible to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay at December Commencement this Saturday, Dec. 19.
Ceremonies begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts on the campus at 2420 Nicolet Drive.
Dr. Thomas K. Harden will preside in his first commencement as chancellor since coming to UW-Green Bay last June. Representing the UW System will be Charles Pruitt, president of the statewide citizen Board of Regents.
Degrees will be awarded at the bachelor’s, master’s and associate degree levels. Of the 400 eligible to receive degrees, nearly 80 percent, or about 310, will don caps and gowns and participate in the ceremony. Among academic areas awarding the most diplomas will be Business Administration, about 70; Psychology, about 50; Human Development, 35; and Human Biology, Communication, Education, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Nursing, more than two dozen each.
Flags designating the various nations of origin of this semester’s graduates will be carried in the opening procession. Along with students from the United States, the graduating class includes individuals from Belarus, Bulgaria, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, the Russian Republic and Tibet, and the Menominee, Navajo, Oneida and Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican nations.
Daniel T. Keegan
The commencement speaker is Daniel T. Keegan, a 1972 graduate of UW-Green Bay. Widely known as one of America’s foremost fine arts administrators, he was appointed director of the Milwaukee Art Museum in February 2008 after serving as director of the San Jose Museum of Art in California and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Mo. In Milwaukee, Keegan oversees one of his home state’s cultural treasures: an institution that attracts more than 300,000 visitors annually, houses about 20,000 works of art and is internationally renowned for its breathtaking architecture. A native of Green Bay, he attended Annunciation and St. Agnes elementary schools and graduated from Premontre High School. He earned his bachelor’s in Communication-Art from UW-Green Bay and a master of fine arts degree from Southern Illinois University.
Graduating class speaker is Allen Voelker of Manitowoc, who will receives his bachelor of science degree with summa cum laude, or highest, honors. He completed requirements for the major in biology along with minors in chemistry, Education and Human Biology. Pursuing studies as a future educator, Voelker assisted in an array of science classes through his student teaching in the Green Bay Area Public School District. He also mentored Latino secondary-school students participating in the after-school PADRES program. Earlier this fall, he served as a student teacher at the Instituto Latino Americano in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Receiving recognition as the top graduating senior — as selected by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Alumni Association from among nominees for its Outstanding Student Award — will be Nick Cibula of Green Bay. He will receive his bachelor’s degree with a double major in Public Administration and political science. His diverse research interests included examination of U.S. foreign policy in the Mideast, and peer mentoring for freshman college students. Cibula was also active in student government.
Saturday’s event is the 40th mid-year graduation ceremony in school history. Doors to the Weidner Center will open at 10 a.m. with the main seating area — Cofrin Family Hall — opening at 10:30 a.m.
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