Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, joins an eclectic selection of speakers as UC Santa Cruz's 10 colleges and graduate division hold commencement ceremonies June 10-12 when more than 3,000 students will receive bachelors, masters, Ph.D degrees, and graduate certificates.
A complete list of commencement events including times, locations and speakers can be found at http://events.ucsc.edu/commencement/. In addition to the college commencements, specialty graduation ceremonies will be held throughout the weekend beginning June 9.
A total of 2,451 UCSC students are candidates for bachelor degrees for undergraduate work completed in the arts, engineering, humanities, physical and biological sciences, and social sciences. Also this spring, 386 students are eligible to receive master degrees; of these students, 100 will complete UCSC's education master's program in late summer. In addition, 231 UCSC students are candidates for doctorates. A small number of students will receive graduate certificates.
Jackson, the first African American to head the EPA, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address for College 10's commencement that begins at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, June 12 on UCSC's West Field.
Jackson was confirmed as head of the EPA January 22, 2009 after serving as commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection and briefly as New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine's chief of staff. Previously, she worked for the U.S. EPA for 16 years. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Tulane University and earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University.
Alexander Gonzalez, president of California State University, Sacramento, and a UCSC alumnus returns to campus to deliver the commencement address for the graduate division ceremony at 4 p.m. Friday, June 10. Gonzalez earned his master's and Ph.D degrees in psychology at UCSC, studying with social psychologist Elliot Aronson. He has served as president of Sacramento State for seven years after serving as president of California State University, San Marcos for seven years.
Other confirmed commencement speakers include UCSC alumnus John Laird, (Stevenson '72), California's Secretary for Natural Resources; state Assembly member Bill Monning; Deepak Ahuja, chief financial officer of Tesla Motors; and alumni Bill Dickinson, (Cowell '68), founder of the Smith Renaissance Society; Ricky Bluthenthal, (Merrill '86), professor of preventative medicine at USC, and Eden Jequinto, (Oakes '04), founder of the Engaging Education (e2) program at UCSC.
Also speaking are Bettina Aptheker, UCSC professor of feminist studies and history; Dard Newman, Hasan Endowed Chair in Classical Indian Music, UCSC Music Department; Kate Edmunds, associate professor, Theater Arts, and Nancy Cox-Konopelski, (Crown), director of the UCSC Academic Excellence Program.
Transportation and parking information for Commencement 2011 is available at http://taps.ucsc.edu/commencement2011.html. Each graduate will receive two parking permits from their college.
