UMaine’s 213th Commencement Set for May 9
The 213th Commencement at the University of Maine will be held May 9 in Harold Alfond Sports Arena on campus.
UMaine Commencement, held in two ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., is one of the largest graduation events in the state and this year is part of the university’s 150th anniversary celebration. An estimated 1,687 undergraduate and graduate students are expected to participate.
Both ceremonies are ticketed events and live streaming will be available.
The morning ceremony includes the College of Education and Human Development, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Division of Lifelong Learning, and the Maine Business School. The afternoon ceremony includes the College of Engineering, and the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture.
Honorary doctorates will be awarded to alumni Dana Connors of Gray, Maine, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, and Dennis Rezendes of Boulder, Colorado, who pioneered the hospice program in the United States; and M. Peter McPherson, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU).
McPherson is the Commencement speaker for both ceremonies.
This year’s valedictorian is Gwendolyn Beacham of Farmington, Maine, a biochemistry major and honors student. The salutatorian is Katelyn Massey of Waterville, Maine, a psychology major with a concentration in development and a minor in communication sciences and disorders, and a member of the UMaine women’s ice hockey team.
Also being honored will be four faculty members in civil engineering, philosophy, history and communication who received UMaine’s highest awards:
The 2015 Distinguished Maine Professor is Bill Davids, the John C. Bridge Professor of Civil Engineering. The annual award is presented by the University of Maine Alumni Association in recognition of outstanding achievement in UMaine’s statewide mission of teaching, research and economic development, and community engagement.
Kirsten Jacobson, associate professor of philosophy, is the 2015 Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award winner; Richard Judd, Col. James C. McBride Distinguished Professor of History, the 2015 Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award; and Laura Lindenfeld, director of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and associate professor of communication, the 2015 Presidential Public Service Achievement Award.
Contact: Margaret Nagle, 207.581.3745