June 6, 2007

UCSB Will Graduate 4,800 Students in Eight Commencement Ceremonies

Eileen Conrad

Approximately 4,800 graduating students will take part in one of eight official commencement ceremonies scheduled at UC Santa Barbara over eight days starting June 10 and concluding June 17.

The campus's commencement exercises attract an estimated 35,000 visitors to the Santa Barbara area each year.

As is traditional at UCSB, the ceremonies are organized by college, level of degree, and field of study so that each student can be individually recognized.

Chancellor Henry T. Yang will shake the hand of each student graduating from the College of Creative Studies, the College of Engineering, the College of Letters and Science, the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, and the Graduate Division.

The College of Creative Studies will lead off with its ceremony on Sunday, June 10, at 11 a.m. in Campbell Hall.

The Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management will conduct its ceremony on Friday, June 15, at 10 a.m. in the Bren Hall Courtyard.

On the weekend of Saturday, June 16, and Sunday, June 17, six ceremonies -- three each day -- will be held on the Commencement Green behind the Faculty Club.

A listing of the ceremonies and guest speakers follows. Complete biographical information on all speakers is available on the UCSB Web site at this address: www.ia.ucsb.edu/commencement/2007x/speakers.shtml

Sunday, June 10, Campbell Hall

11 a.m. - College of Creative Studies

Guest Speaker – Marlene Zuk, a 1977 CCS graduate of UCSB, associate vice provost for faculty equity and diversity, and professor of biology at UC Riverside

Student Speakers – Deena In Ae Drewis, literature; Kathryn Elizabeth Blaschke,

chemistry/biochemistry; and Samuel Ellsworth Galle, biology

Friday, June 15, Bren Courtyard

10 a.m. - Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management

Guest Speaker – Jerome Ringo, former chairman of the board of the National Wildlife Federation

Student Speaker – Drew Beckwith, water resources management

Saturday, June 16, Commencement Green

9 a.m. - Science and Mathematics

Guest Speaker – Dawn Wright, professor of geosciences at Oregon State University who in 1994 earned a doctorate in Physical Geography and Marine Geology at UCSB

Student Speaker – Brook Vander Stoep Hunt, microbiology

1 p.m. - Engineering and Science

Guest Speaker – Adam Savage, co-host of "Mythbusters"

Student Speaker –

Shyam Natarajan, computer engineering

4 p.m. - Social Sciences I

Guest Speaker – Luis G. Nogales, Nogales Investors, managing partner

Student Speaker – Gina Marie Fischer, political science and geography

Sunday, June 17, Commencement Green

9 a.m. - Social Sciences II

Guest Speaker – Natalia Kanem, president of the ELMA Philanthropies Services

Student Speaker – Stacey F. Thornberry, communication

1 p.m. - Humanities and Fine Arts

Guest Speaker – Chris Abani, award winning poet and novelist and professor of creative writing at UC Riverside

Student Speaker – Kevin Matthew Pollack, English and philosophy

4 p.m. - Graduate Division

Guest Speaker – Fredric E. Steck, UCSB Foundation Trustee and UCSB alumnus

Student Speaker – Jennifer Grief Green, Ph.D., counseling, clinical, and school psychology

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.