April 30, 2014

PASSHE universities list spring commencements, speakers

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Harrisburg – The 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities will hold commencement ceremonies at various times and locations May 9-12. Details of the programs, including scheduled speakers, follow:

Bloomsburg – Three university alumni will address undergraduates at separate commencement ceremonies scheduled for 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m., May 10, on the Academic Quadrangle. Michael Gillespie (’95), chief accounting officer for Hersha Hospitality Trust and treasurer of the Bloomsburg University Foundation Board of Directors, will address graduates of the College of Business and College of Education in the morning ceremony. Duane Greenly (’72), who is retired from Ames True Temper Inc., where he was chief executive officer and president, will address graduates of the College of Science and Technology at noon. John Wetzel (’98), secretary of the State Department of Corrections and a member of BU’s Council of Trustees, will speak to graduates in the College of Liberal Arts at the afternoon ceremony. In case of inclement weather, the ceremonies will be held in Nelson Field House on the upper campus.

Degrees will be conferred to graduate students during a ceremony scheduled for 7 p.m., May 9, in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall.

California – Reginald A. Long Sr., a 1981 alumnus of Cal U. and a partner in the law firm of Love and Long LLP, which has offices in Newark, N.J., and Philadelphia, will speak at both the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies scheduled for May 9 and 10. Graduate students will receive their degrees at 7 p.m., May 9, while undergraduates will be presented their degrees in a program scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., May 10. Both events will be held in the Convocation Center.

Cheyney – Dr. Randal D. Pinkett, founder, chairman and CEO of BCT Partners, will address graduates at 11 a.m., May 10, on the historic Quadrangle. Dr. Pinkett was the first and only African-American to receive the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship at Rutgers University. He also was the winner of NBC’s hit reality television show, The Apprentice, with Donald Trump.

Clarion – Guido M. Pichini, chairman of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors, will speak at separate ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., May 10, in Tippin Gymnasium. Students in the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Business Administration will participate in the morning ceremony, and those in the College of Education & Human Services, the Division of Student Affairs and the School of Nursing and Allied Health, in the afternoon. Pichini is president of WSK & Associates and its related companies of Wyomissing. In 2011, he became the first PASSHE university alumnus to be elected chair of the board that oversees the State System, and he is now in his third term as chair.

Dr. Joe Carrico, superintendent of the Oil City Area School District, will address graduates of the Venango College of Clarion University at 7 p.m., May 10 in the Robert W. Rhoades Gymnasium.

East Stroudsburg – James Franklin, a 1995 ESU graduate and the head football coach at Pennsylvania State University, will address undergraduates at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., May 10, in Koehler Fieldhouse. Students in the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Education will receive their degrees during the morning ceremony, while those in the College of Business and Management and College of Health Sciences will participate in the afternoon program. Franklin earned a degree in psychology from East Stroudsburg, where, as a member of the football team, he set or tied 23 school season or career records.

Sam Niedbala, president and CEO of CryoConcepts, a leading manufacturer of cryosurgical equipment, and CEO of tbbiosciences, an early stage medical diagnostics company, both of Bethlehem, will address graduate students at 7 p.m., May 9, at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Edinboro – Former Governor Tom Ridge, who left the office to become the first head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will address undergraduates at 10 a.m., May 10, in McComb Fieldhouse. Ridge, who grew up and began he political career in Erie, also will receive an honorary degree. Since the end of his tenure as a cabinet secretary in 2005, he has served as president and chief executive of Ridge Global, which helps businesses and governments address risk management, global trade security, emergency preparedness and other needs.

Graduate students will receive their degrees in a separate ceremony scheduled for 2 p.m., May 10, in Louis C. Cole Auditorium of Memorial Hall.

Indiana – Terry Dunlap, executive vice president of ATI Flat Rolled Products Group, will speak at separate ceremonies scheduled for 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., May 10, in the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex. Students from the College of Fine Arts, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and College of Health and Human Services will receive their degrees during the morning ceremony and those in the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and College of Education and Educational Technology will receive their degrees in the afternoon. Dunlap is a recipient of the IUP Distinguished Alumni Award and Eberly College of Business and Information Technology Hall of Distinction. Abbie Bender of Waynesboro, who will receive a bachelor's degree in biology, will be the student speaker for the morning ceremony; Kasi Hicks of Harrisburg, who will receive a bachelor's degree in communications media, will speak at the afternoon ceremony.

Kutztown – Faculty and student speakers will address separate ceremonies scheduled for 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., May 10, in O’Pake Fieldhouse. Megan Evans, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in early childhood education, and Dr. Teresa Sychterz, professor of elementary education will speak at the morning ceremony for those receiving degrees from the College of Business and College of Education. Kristie Thudium, who will receive her degree in psychology, and Randy Schaeffer, professor of mathematics and mathematics education, will speak at the afternoon ceremony for those receiving degrees from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Lock Haven – Micah Smith, assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan), will address graduate and undergraduate students at separate ceremonies May 9 and 10. The graduate ceremony will be held at 7:30 p.m., May 9, in Price Auditorium; the undergraduate ceremony, at 10 a.m., May 10, in Hubert Jack Stadium. Smith is a 2003 LHU graduate and attended Harvard Law School, where was editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Mansfield – Dr. Francis (Frank) Duffy, distinguished educator, author and a 1974 Mansfield graduate, will speak at 11 a.m., May 10, in Decker Gymnasium. Duffy is a professor of public administration and coordinates a Master of Public Administration program at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. He has been at the university for 32 years and specializes in leadership for change in organizations, especially in school systems.

Millersville – Lieutenant General David L. Mann, commanding general USASMDC/ARSTRAT, will speak at the undergraduate commencement ceremony at 10 a.m., May 10, in Biemesderfer Stadium, Chryst Field. Mann is a distinguished military graduate of Gettysburg College after graduating from Millersville University in 1981. He assumed command of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command and Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense in August 2013.

Deborah Tait Castellucci, the graduate program coordinator in nursing at Millersville, will address graduate students at 6:30 p.m., May 9, in Pucillo Gymnasium. Castellucci also teaches in the graduate nurse practitioner program at MU.

Shippensburg – Major General Tony Cucolo, the 49th commandant of the U.S. Army War College, will speak during the undergraduate ceremony at 11 a.m., May 10, in Seth Grove Stadium. Prior to his two years as commandant, he spent 10 months as the director of force development for the Deputy Chief of Staff at the Department of the Army in the Pentagon.

Karen Sheriff, director of the Perry County Area Agency on Aging, will address graduate students at 7 p.m., May 9, in the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center. She holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Shippensburg.

Slippery Rock – Faculty members Tom Sparro and Bruce Orvis will speak at separate ceremonies scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., May 10, in Morrow Field House. Sparrow, a professor of philosophy and the 2014 Winner of the President's Award for Research and Scholarly Activity, will address graduate students and undergraduates in the College of Health, Environment and Science and College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts at the morning ceremony. Orvis, a business professor and 2014 winner of the President's Award for Teaching, will speak in the afternoon to those in the College of Business, Information and Social Sciences and the College of Education.

West Chester - Brigadier General Carol Eggert, assistant adjutant general for the Joint Force Headquarters of the Pennsylvania National Guard will speak to undergraduates at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., May 10, at Farrell Stadium.

Claudia Hellebush, president and CEO of United Way of Chester County, will address graduate students at 7 p.m., May 12, at Hollinger Field House Both speakers are WCU alums.

The 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 operates 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.