* ””:http://www.wvu.edu/ (UPDATED 5/12/09 to reflect different title for School of Nursing speaker Laura Rhodes. She is the president of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.)*


West Virginia University will honor more than 3,500 graduates May 15-17 during its 140th Commencement Weekend ceremonies.


Activities will include the University-wide Commencement Honors Convocation and individual graduation ceremonies held by each of the Universitys 13 colleges and schools.


WVU distinguished alumnus Verl Purdy will address graduates at the Commencement Honors Convocation at 7 p.m. Friday, May 15, in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre of the WVU Creative Arts Center. The ceremony recognizes outstanding students, faculty, staff and alumni.


Purdy, a native of Poca, graduated from WVU in 1964 with a bachelors degree in chemical engineering. He received his masters degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina in 1973.


Purdy has held positions at B.F. Goodrich Chemicals and FMC Corp., and he served as vice president of Intermediate Chemicals group, a corporate officer and a member of the executive committee at BASF Group chemical company. Purdy was the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto Zinc Chemicals from 1980 until 1984, when he established AGDATA group of companies. AGDATA is now one of the largest agricultural, animal and human health data analysis and marketing companies in the world.


The Honors Convocation will recognize Honors College graduates (University Honors Scholars), WVU Foundation Outstanding Seniors, WVU Foundation Order of Augusta honorees, ROTC graduates and national student award winners.


Faculty, staff and alumni awards that will be recognized during the ceremony include WVU s Order of Vandalia, honorary degrees, the Caperton Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing, Neil S. Bucklew Award for Social Justice, Ethel and Gerry Heebink Award for Distinguished State Service and Mary Catherine Buswell Award.


A presentation of the colors will be given by ROTC students.


Those being honored will participate in the event by invitation. Audience seating for the Honors Convocation is open to the public.


For those unable to attend the Honors Convocation, the ceremony will be webcast live at http://webcast.wvu.edu . The link will go live 15 minutes before the start of the ceremony, and a video will be available for on-demand viewing on YouTube after the event.


A series of Commencement ceremonies will be hosted by the Universitys colleges and schools May 16-17.


CEREMONIES AND SPEAKERS :


Friday, May 15


  • 10 a.m.Army ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, Mountainlair ballrooms

  • 2 p.m.Air Force ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, Erickson Alumni Center

  • 7 p.m.Commencement Honors Convocation, Creative Arts Center; address by Purdy (biographical information above)


Saturday, May 16


  • 8:30 a.m. School of Dentistry , Student Recreation Center; address by Dr. Everett Bowling, president of the WVU School of Dentistry Alumni Association. Bowling graduated with the dental class of 1975.

  • 9 a.m. School of Medicine (M.D./Ph.D.), Creative Arts Center; address by Dr. James Brick, interim dean of the WVU School of Medicine. Brick is the E.B. Flink Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine. He is the past chairman of the WVU Medical Corp. Board of Directors. He completed both his undergraduate and medical degrees from WVU .

  • 9:30 a.m. College of Human Resources and Education , WVU Coliseum; address by Larry Groce, host ofMountain Stageon National Public Radio. Groce was a National Endowment for the Arts-sponsored musician-in-residence from 1972-85. He has recorded 23 albums ranging in style from gospel to childrens music. He is also executive director of the 10-day Charleston arts festival, FestivALL. In 2008, Groce received the West Virginia Governors Art Award for Leadership in the Arts.

  • Noon School of Pharmacy , Student Recreation Center; address by Lucinda L. Maine, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Maine has also served as a senior staff member for the American Pharmacists Association, where she was responsible for policy, communications and volunteer development.

  • 1 p.m. College of Law , Creative Arts Center; address by Dean Joyce McConnell. McConnell will recognize Charles DiSalvo as the law schools 2009 Professor of the Year. McConnell joined the WVU College of Law in 1995. She is a nationally recognized scholar on domestic violence. McConnell has served as an attorney/adviser to the chief judge and Division of Judges of the National Labor Relations Board and U.S. Department of Labor. She has also been vice president of the West Virginia Land Trust.

  • 5 p.m. School of Nursing , Student Recreation Center; address by Laura Rhodes, president of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

  • 6 p.m. College of Business and Economics , WVU Coliseum; address by Susanna Wayt, WVU alumna and vice president of human resources for the Americas division of Bayer MaterialScience LLC . Wayt graduated from WVU in 1981. She began work as an employee relations specialist for WVU and spent several years in retail store management before becoming director of human resources for Bayer MaterialScience LLC .

  • 7:30 p.m. College of Creative Arts , Creative Arts Center; address by Matthew Sincell, professional actor and guest artist. Sincell has performed in a variety of regional and international productions. He has played Romeo in ShakespearesRomeo and Juliet,Hamlet and performed at The Globe Theatre in London. Sincell received a bachelors degree in acting from WVU in 2001.


Sunday, May 17


  • 9:30 a.m. Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences , WVU Coliseum; address by Dr. Alecia Larew Naugle, epidemiologist at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. She currently serves as program manager of the National Bovine Tuberculosis Program, diplomat in the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and a member of its epidemiology specialty. She graduated from WVU with a bachelors degree in animal and veterinary sciences in 1995.

  • 10 a.m. Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism , Creative Arts Center; address by Hoda Kotb, journalist, co-host of NBC sTodayshow and former resident of Morgantown. Kotb graduated in 1986 from Virginia Tech with a bachelors in broadcast journalism. She has held positions as news assistant at CBS News, correspondent forDateline NBC and host of the weekly syndicated seriesYour Total Health,among others. A webcast will be available at http://webcast.wvu.edu/ .

  • 10 a.m. Eberly College of Arts and Sciences graduate hooding ceremony, Mountainlair ballrooms; address by Hawley Montgomery- Downs, assistant professor of psychology. Montgomery-Downs joined the WVU faculty in 2005. She also teaches as an adjunct professor of pediatrics and a member of the Behavioral Neuroscience Group at the WVU Center for Neuroscience.

  • 10:30 a.m. School of Medicine (professional programs), Student Recreation Center; address by Dr. David Fraser, consultant in epidemiology, international health and education and material cultureand president of Swarthmore College from 1982-91. Fraser has also served as president of the Board of Trustees at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C.

  • 2 p.m. Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Commencement, WVU Coliseum; address by Oliver Luck, WVU alumnus and former professional football player. Luck currently serves on the WVU Board of Governors. He graduated from WVU in 1982 with a bachelors degree in history and earned his law degree from the University of Texas in 1987. Currently, Luck serves as the president and general manager of the Houston Dynamo soccer franchise.

  • 2:30 p.m. College of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences , Creative Arts Center; address by MargaretPeggyBahnsen, WVU alumna, retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army and member of WVU s College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences visiting committee. Bahnsen is the co-founder and chair of the Lincoln Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing leadership skills in West Virginia youths. She graduated from WVU in 1966 with a bachelors degree in recreation.


For more information on WVU Commencement activities and receptions, visit http://commencement.wvu.edu/ .