1,700-plus will receive degrees next weekend

by Anne Krapfl An estimated 1,731 students will receive degrees from Iowa State during commencement ceremonies next weekend, Dec. 19-20.

During the undergraduate ceremony Saturday afternoon in Hilton, an estimated 1,415 students will receive bachelor's degrees.

Joanne Eicher

Iowa State will award an honorary degree to Joanne Eicher, who currently is a Regents professor in the area of textiles and apparel at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul. Eicher has played a key role in developing an understanding of and respect for African textiles in this country. Over the course of 40-plus years, she has researched textiles and clothing in more than a dozen countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.

She also is known for her scholarly study in clothing traditions of this country, beginning with benchmark research in the 1960s on adolescent development and dress as a form of nonverbal communication. Eicher is a role model to many in the textiles and apparel profession, including faculty members at Iowa State.

Eicher will address the under-graduate students briefly during the ceremony, which begins at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are not needed.

On Dec. 18-19, Eicher will participate in numerous learning activities in the department of apparel, educational studies and hospitality management. The campus community is invited to a reception for her, hosted by the department, from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, in the LeBaron Hall lounge.


Graduate ceremony
During Iowa State's graduate ceremony Friday evening in Stephens Auditorium, an estimated 80 students will receive doctoral degrees and another 236 students will receive master's degrees.

ISU Distinguished professor in chemistry Patricia Thiel will give the commencement address. Thiel, who chaired the chemistry department from 1999 to 2002, currently directs a joint materials chemistry research program between ISU and the Ames Laboratory. The graduate ceremony begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are not needed.

Colleges also have planned receptions to honor their graduating students. A list of those events follows.


Commencement
Fall 2003

Friday, December 19M

• 4 p.m., Ceremony, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, for undergraduate students (5 p.m. reception), Benton Auditorium, Scheman, 4-7742.
• 5 p.m., Ceremony, College of Business, for undergraduate students, Hilton, 4-8430.
• 5 p.m., Ceremony, College of Education, for undergraduate students (6:30 p.m. reception), first floor lobby, Scheman, 4-7003.
• 5:30-7 p.m., Reception, College of Engineering, for graduate students, 220 Scheman, 4-5933.
• 8 p.m., Commencement, graduate students, Stephens, 4-9372.
• 9:15-10:15 p.m., Reception, College of Education, for graduate students, first floor lobby, Scheman, 4-7003.M

Saturday, December 20

• 8:30 a.m. Reception, College of Agriculture (9:30 a.m., ceremony), for undergraduate students, Stephens, 4-8653.
• 8:30 a.m., Reception, College of Family and Consumer Sciences (9:30 a.m., ceremony), for under-graduate students, Sun Room, MU, 4-5981.
• 9 a.m., Reception, College of Engineering (9:30-10:30 a.m., recognition programs by department), for undergraduate students, Scheman locations and Fisher Theater, 4-5933.
• 9:30 a.m., Reception, College of Design (10 a.m. ceremony), for undergraduate students, Design atrium, 4-7428.
• 1:30 p.m., Commencement, undergraduate students, no tickets needed, Hilton, 4-9372.