Inside Iowa State

April 29, 2005

Graduation events slated for May 6-7

by Anne Krapfl

An estimated 3,223 students will receive degrees from Iowa State at the conclusion of spring semester. Commencement events are May 6-7 at the Iowa State Center.

An estimated 2,693 students will receive bachelor's degrees during a 1:30 p.m. ceremony Saturday, May 7, in Hilton Coliseum. Perry native, writer and philanthropist Roberta Green Ahmanson, who now lives in Orange County, Calif., will give the commencement address. Ahmanson and her husband, Howard Ahmanson, funded the restoration of the Hotel Pattee in Perry and a historical museum project called Hometown Perry, Iowa.

During an 8 p.m. ceremony Friday, May 6, in Stephens Auditorium, another 437 students will be honored - 364 master's students and 73 doctoral students. Bruce Thompson, director of Iowa State's Center for Nondestructive Evaluation and a Distinguished professor in Engineering (joint appointment in the departments of materials science and engineering and aerospace engineering), will address the graduates. Thompson also is a senior scientist at the Ames Laboratory and directs the lab's applied NDE program. His research specialty is in the area of ultrasonic NDE.

During a noon ceremony in Stephens Saturday, May 7, Iowa State will award an anticipated 93 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees. John Melcher, a veterinarian and former U.S. senator from Montana who now works as a consultant to the American Veterinary Medicine Association in Washington, D.C., will give the address. Melcher received his D.V.M. from Iowa State in 1950.

Colleges also will honor their graduating students at college events Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Spring 2005 Commencement
May 6-7

Friday, May 6

• 4 p.m., College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, awards ceremony recognizing undergraduate students graduating with honors or distinction, Fisher Theater and Benton Auditorium, Scheman, tickets required
• 5 p.m., College of Business, ceremony, for undergraduate and graduate students, Hilton
• 5 p.m., College of Education, ceremony, for undergraduate students, Stephens Auditorium (6:30 p.m. reception, 1st floor lobby, Scheman)
• 5:30-7 p.m., College of Engineering, reception, for graduate students, 220 Scheman
• 6:30 p.m., College of Education, reception, for graduate students, 1st floor lobby, Scheman
• 8 p.m., Graduate commencement, for master's and Ph.D. students, speaker R. Bruce Thompson, ISU Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, Stephens Auditorium, tickets not required

Saturday, May 7

• 8 a.m., College of Agriculture, reception, for undergraduate students, ceremony at 9 a.m., Stephens Auditorium
• 8:30 a.m., College of Family and Consumer Sciences, reception for undergraduate and graduate students, 9:30 a.m. ceremony, Lied Center
• 9 a.m., College of Engineering, receptions by department, for undergraduate students, 9:30-10:30 a.m. recognition programs, Scheman locales, Fisher Theater, Hilton and Kent-Stein Auditorium, Hoover Hall
• 9:30 a.m., College of Design, reception, for undergraduate and graduate students, ceremony at 10 a.m., Lightfoot Forum, College of Design
• Noon, Commencement, College of Veterinary Medicine, for D.V.M. graduates, speaker Dr. John Melcher, American Veterinary Medicine Association, Stephens Auditorium, tickets not required
• 1:30 p.m., Undergraduate commencement, all colleges, speaker Roberta Green Ahmanson, journalist and philanthropist, Hilton, tickets not required