The president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and a distinguished West Virginia University alumna will give the keynote address at WVU s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Commencement ceremony Sunday (May 18).

Jennie C. Hunter-Ceveraa respected administrator, research scientist and project manager, who has discovered natural products that have benefitted human health, the environment and agriculturewill address graduates at 2 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.

Hunter-Cevera is a member of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board. She received her bachelors degree in biology and masters degree in microbiology from WVU and a doctorate in microbiology from Rutgers University. She has given more than 70 invited lectures and keynote presentations, and she is the author of several papers, chapters and books. Hunter-Cevera holds three patents and 15 pending patents.

I am pleased and honored to be selected as the colleges Commencement speaker,she said.It is particularly meaningful for me because my daughter, Kristen, will receive two bachelors degrees, one in biology and one in mathematics, during the ceremony.

We are excited to welcome Jennie Hunter-Cevera as our commencement speaker,said Mary Ellen Mazey, dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.Her long and distinguished professional scientific and academic career and her community involvement exemplify the colleges commitment to research, service and teaching. She is an inspiring speaker and serves as a role model for all our graduates.

Prior to her tenure at the Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Hunter-Cevera was the director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the E. O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a collaborative effort between the lab and the University of California at Berkeley.

She was also a co-founder of two small companies, The Biotic Network and Blue Sky Research, that provided contract work for large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and she served as a consultant for five years in a variety of biotechnology fields. For 10 years, Hunter-Cevera was employed at Cetus Corp., where she was the director of fermentation, research and development.

In addition, she has served as president of the Society for Industrial Microbiology (SIM), United States Federation of Culture Collections and International Marine Biotechnology Association. Hunter-Cevera was also a member on former USDA Secretary Dan Glickmans Genetic Resources Advisory Board, former President Clintons State Department Council on Genetically Modified Foods and Gov. Robert Ehrlichs Technology Commission for the State of Maryland. She was also one of six members of Ehrlichs Executive Council for Transition.

Hunter-Cevera currently sits on Marylands Task Force on Minority Participation in the Environmental Community and several subcommittees for the Maryland Life Science Authority Commission in addition to several other nonprofit and for-profit boards of directors.

Hunter-Cevera was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in 1995, received the 1996 SIM Charles Porter Award and was named a SIM Fellow in 1997. She was the WVU Nath lecturer in 1999 and was honored with the Universitys Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003. In 2004, she was the recipient of the American Society for Microbiology/United States Federation for Culture Collections J. Roger Porter Award. Additionally, she was honored as one of Marylands Top 100 Women for 2003 and 2007, and was recognized in 2007 as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Maryland.

WVU Commencement Weekend exercises are set for May 16-18. More on the Net:http://commencement.wvu.edu