More than 2,400 to receive degrees at UNL commencement exercises
Chancellor Harvey Perlman will preside at the ceremonies, which for the first time will include separate commencement exercises for doctoral degree recipients. The main commencement exercises, for baccalaureate and master's degrees, begins at 9:30 a.m. May 10 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, 27th and Theresa streets. Doctoral degree candidates will receive their diplomas and their hood in a ceremony beginning at 3:30 p.m. May 9 at Kimball Recital Hall, 11th and R streets.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Lincoln, Neb., May 1, 2008 -- More than 2,400 students will receive degrees at University of Nebraska-Lincoln commencement exercises May 9 and 10.
Chancellor Harvey Perlman will preside at the ceremonies, which for the first time will include separate commencement exercises for doctoral degree recipients. The main commencement exercises, for baccalaureate and master's degrees, begins at 9:30 a.m. May 10 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, 27th and Theresa streets. Doctoral degree candidates will receive their diplomas and their hood in a ceremony beginning at 3:30 p.m. May 9 at Kimball Recital Hall, 11th and R streets. In previous years, doctoral candidates received their hoods at a Friday ceremony and their diplomas at Saturday's exercises.
College of Law commencement exercises will begin at 3 p.m. May 10 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St. Lee C. White, former special counsel to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, will address the 111 graduates. Steven Willborn, dean of the college, will preside.
Former Omaha World-Herald publisher John Gottschalk will address graduates and receive an honorary doctor of letters degree at the main commencement exercises, where philanthropist James C. Seacrest will receive the Nebraska Builder Award from UNL. The award is given annually to individuals who have been "builders" of UNL or the state of Nebraska.
As chairman, chief executive officer and publisher of the World-Herald, Gottschalk's career as journalist, civic leader and philanthropist is well known. A native of Rushville, he attended the University of Nebraska from 1961-65 and began a career in advertising at the Sidney Telegraph. He eventually bought the newspaper, which he sold in 1974. He joined the Omaha World-Herald that year as assistant to its president. In 1985, he was named president and chief operating officer and became chairman and CEO in 1989. He retired in late 2007. The paper is the only employee-owned newspaper in the United States, and with a circulation of more than 250,000, is the nation's 53rd-largest newspaper. Gottschalk sits on a number of corporate and civic boards, including the McCarthy Group, Pacific Mutual Holding Co., the Pacific Life Corp., Cabela's, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha Performing Arts, Henry Doorly Zoo, Creighton University, the Kiewit Institute, the Omaha Symphony and the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation. He is a national vice president of Boy Scouts of America and a member of the Omaha Business Hall of Fame. Last month, the Nebraska Press Association honored him with its top award, the Master Editor-Publisher Award.
Seacrest, a 1963 graduate of the NU College of Business Administration, carries on a family tradition of generosity and civic leadership. The Seacrest family owned and published newspapers in Lincoln, Scottsbluff and North Platte. Since leaving the newspaper business, Seacrest and his wife, Rhonda, have given their time, talent and financial support to many UNL projects, including agriculture, business, journalism, opera, athletics, the Sheldon Museum of Art and NET. In 2002, they funded the UNL opera company's trip to Ireland to compete in an international festival; in 2003, they funded faculty fellowships in business and journalism. Jim Seacrest has been an NU Foundation trustee since 1972, keeping with family tradition -- his grandfather made the inaugural donation that established the foundation in 1936. The couple served on the national committee for Campaign Nebraska. Jim Seacrest served on the UNL Alumni Association board and on the NU President's Advisory Council. The Seacrests' son, Ryan, is a 1989 graduate of UNL.
Azzeddine Azzam, professor of agricultural economics and winner of UNL's Excellence in Graduate Education award this year, will address graduates at the doctoral commencement.
Lee C. White, the law college commencement speaker, is a native of Omaha who earned his bachelor's ( 1948 ) and law ( 1950 ) degrees at NU and began his career as a lawyer for the Tennessee Valley Authority ( 1950-54 ). He was a legislative assistant to Sen. Kennedy ( D.-Mass. ) from 1954 to 1957 and administrative assistant to Sen. John S. Cooper ( R.-Ky. ) from 1958 to 1961 before working in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations ( 1961-66 ). From 1966 to 1969, he was chairman of the Federal Power Commission and since 1969, has been a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Semer, White and Jacobsen. He is the author of "Government for the People: Reflections of a White House Counsel to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson," published in December.
UNL officials encourage those planning to attend the main ceremonies May 10 to use the 27th Street entrance to State Fair Park and park in the paved lots east of the Devaney Center. Handicap accessible shuttle buses will be available for easy access to the Devaney Center entrance. Handicap permit parking will be available on the north side of the Devaney Center.
All ceremonies are free and open to the public, and tickets are not required. The main commencement exercises May 10 will be Web-streamed live from the Devaney Center through a link at the UNL Web site ( www.unl.edu ).
A drop-off area for graduates and mobility-restricted guests will be available on the south side of the Devaney Center on May 10. Sign-language interpreters for hearing-impaired individuals will be provided through the HuskerVision screens. Reserved seats for guests who are ambulatory restricted will be available next to the stage on the arena floor, as well as in Section B-11. Guests in wheelchairs will be seated on the northeast corner of the arena floor. Golf carts will be at the ramps on the exterior north and south sides of the Devaney Center to assist disabled guests entering and leaving the building.
Because of security concerns, parcels, handbags and camera bags will be subject to search.
Motorists in the vicinity of UNL city campus during the week of May 5-10 are reminded that traffic lanes may be restricted because of students moving out of the residence halls during and after their finals.
CONTACTS: Annette Wetzel, University Communications, phone: ( 402 ) 472-8524 Sarah Gloden, Asst. Dean, Law College, phone: ( 402 ) 472-2161
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