More Than 6,600 Students Earn Diplomas at 41st Commencement Exercises
A record number of students will receive degrees during UC Irvine's 41st annual commencement exercises, with thousands donning caps and gowns in nine separate ceremonies that take place over three days, June 16-18, at the Bren Events Center.
Academic degrees to be awarded at the commencement ceremonies include 5,339 bachelor's degrees, 942 master's and 222 doctorates. The School of Medicine awarded medical doctorates to 104 students at a June 3 ceremony, bringing the total number of degrees earned by the class of 2006 to 6,607.
Of degrees awarded with academic honors, 54 will be summa cum laude, 164 magna cum laude and 424 cum laude. Awards and scholarships for academic excellence will be given to 404 students; these awards include the Dean's Academic Achievement Award, the Order of Merit Award, Phi Beta Kappa memberships and ArtsBridge scholarships. Many of the students receiving honors will participate in a special Honors Convocation at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 15, at the Bren Events Center.
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A schedule of events and speakers follows:
June 16 Ceremony Schedule
* School of Humanities: 4 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Aimee Bender, M.F.A. '98, author and professor. A graduate of UCI's creative writing master's program, Bender's 1998 short story collection, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, was named a Notable Book by The New York Times and a Best Pick by the Los Angeles Times. She just published her second collection of surreal stories, Willful Creatures, and the novel An Invisible Sign of My Own. Bender is currently an associate professor of English at the University of Southern California.
Student speaker: Caroline Chang, baccalaureate candidate, School of Humanities
* Claire Trevor School of the Arts, School of Physical Sciences and Department of Education: 7 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Beth Krom, mayor of Irvine. Krom began her career as a teacher for the visually impaired, later moved into business marketing and eventually started her own business providing freelance creative services to corporations. A resident of Irvine for more than two decades, Krom was elected mayor in 2004 and has demonstrated interest in developing the community, education and the arts.Â
June 17 Ceremony Schedule
* School of Social Ecology: 9 a.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor of Social Ecology. Loftus's pioneering research over three decades has shown that memory is highly susceptible to distortion, and she has served as an expert witness in countless high profile court cases. Named one of the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century by the Review of General Psychology, Loftus leads UCI's Center for Psychology and Law and is a central force in the campus's growing group of psychologists and criminologists whose work combines these fields.
Student speaker: Shannon Marie Coskran, baccalaureate candidate, School of Social Ecology
* School of Social Sciences - Ceremony 1: 1 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Jenny Doh '91, editor-in-chief of Somerset Studio magazine and former UC student regent. Since graduating from UCI with a bachelor's in political science, Doh earned her master's in social work from UCLA and worked in child welfare for Orange County Social Services. She is currently a development consultant for El Sol, a public charter School in Santa Ana, and serves as vice president of the UCI Alumni Association.
Student speaker: Vanessa Lauren Zuabi, baccalaureate candidate, School of Social Sciences
* School of Social Sciences - Ceremony 2: 5 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Jenny Doh, 91. See above.
Student speakers: Hugo Ivan Salazar and Swaicha Chanduri, baccalaureate candidates, School of Social Sciences
June 18 Ceremony Schedule
* The Henry Samueli School of Engineering: 9 a.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Michael Mussallem, chairman and CEO of Edwards Lifesciences. Mussallem has headed the Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences, a global leader in heart valve technology, since 2000, when it was spun off from Baxter International. At Baxter, Mussallem had directed worldwide operations for the company's cardiovascular and biopharmaceutical businesses. Currently, he serves on the board of directors for Advanced Medical Optics and is chairman of the California Healthcare Institute.
Student speaker: Sara Suzanna Huber, baccalaureate candidate, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering
* The Paul Merage School of Business: 10 a.m., Aldrich Park
Featured speaker: Matt Ouimet, president, Disneyland Resort. Since joining The Walt Disney Company in 1989, Ouimet has held a variety of executive positions, including president of the Disney Cruise Line, which became one of the country's premier cruise operators under his leadership. As president of Disneyland Resort, he oversees the company's Anaheim resorts two theme parks, three hotels and entertainment district.
* Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences: 1 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Bob Kleist, founder, president, CEO and director of Printronix. In 1974, Kleist founded Printronix by designing a matrix printer that could produce barcodes and graphics as well as characters. Since then, the Irvine-based company has grown into a global enterprise. Kleist, who holds 17 patents, has pioneered new technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) printing, which is the subject of his 2004 book. He previously co-founded Pertec Computer Corporation, and held engineering and management positions at Ampex, Link Aviation and Magnavox.
* School of Biological Sciences: 4 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Tina S. Nova, '76, co-founder, president, CEO and director of Genoptix. Nova heads the Carlsbad-based Genoptix, a clinical laboratory that provides services for the detection of leukemia and lymphoma. She previously co-founded three life science companies in the San Diego area. After graduating from UCI with her bachelor's in biological sciences, Nova earned her doctorate in biochemistry from UC Riverside, and went on to lead a scientific team in the development of several widely used diagnostic products, including those that detect cardiac arrhythmia and prostate cancer.
About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,400 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.3 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.
Television: UCI has a broadcast studio available for live or taped interviews. For more information, visit http://today.uci.edu/broadcast.
News Radio: UCI maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. The use of this line is available free-of-charge to radio news programs/stations who wish to interview UCI faculty and experts. Use of ISDN the line is subject to availability and approval by the university.