Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
May 3, 2002

Alumna Abraham to be honored graduation weekend

This University Archives photograph was taken at Iowa State's spring 1913 commencement -- the first in the just-completed State Gymnasium.

by Anne Krapfl
Nearly 2,900 students are expected to receive degrees from Iowa State during commencement events next weekend (May 10-11). ISU alumna Katharine Abraham will receive an honorary degree during the undergraduate ceremony.

An estimated 290 master's candidates and about 70 Ph.D. candidates will graduate during an 8 p.m. ceremony Friday, May 10, at C.Y. Stephens Auditorium. President Gregory Geoffroy will address the graduates.

During a noon ceremony Saturday, May 11, also in Stephens, 98 veterinary medicine students will receive D.V.M. degrees, and another seven students will receive master's or Ph.D. degrees. Dr. Keith Murray, director of the National Animal Disease Center, Ames, will give the commencement address.

The all-university undergraduate ceremony begins at 2 p.m. Saturday in Hilton Coliseum. An estimated 2,430 students will walk across the stage to receive bachelor's degrees. Geoffroy also will give this commencement address.

Abraham ('76, economics) will receive an honorary doctor of science degree during the ceremony. Abraham is a professor of survey methodology and affiliate professor of economics at the University of Maryland, College Park. She also is a visiting professor and scholar this year at Princeton University.

Earlier this year, Abraham finished the second of two four-year appointments as commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S. Department of Labor. As commissioner, she occupied one of the most important professional positions in the U.S. government dealing with economic policy and performance. Under her leadership, the bureau improved its method for collecting employment statistics, initiated a program to collect data on job vacancies and, following much public discussion, improved the way the Consumer Price Index is measured.

Colleges also are holding receptions or ceremonies for their undergraduate and graduate students.

The Student Alumni Leadership Council is sponsoring a brunch for all graduating students and their families from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the Maple-Willow-Larch dining center. Tickets should be purchased by today (May 3) in 158 Memorial Union.

Further changes likely for graduation day

Commencement schedule