June 2, 2009

UCSB Will Graduate 4,500 Students in Eight Commencement Ceremonies

Eileen Conrad

Approximately 4,500 graduating students will take part in one of eight official commencement ceremonies scheduled at UC Santa Barbara over eight days starting June 7 and concluding June 14.

The campus's commencement exercises attract an estimated 40,000 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 7, at

11 a.m. in Campbell Hall.

The Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management will conduct its ceremony on Friday, June 12, at 10 a.m. in the Bren Hall Courtyard.

On the weekend of Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14, 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/2009x/speakers.shtml

Sunday, June 7, Campbell Hall

11 a.m. – College of Creative Studies

Guest Speaker – Christopher Miles '91, associate professor of art,

Cal State Long Beach

Student Speakers – Ryan Hisao Kerr, music composition; Perla Yasmeen Melendez, literature and book arts; Elisabeth Rose Newton, physics

Friday, June 12, Bren Hall Courtyard

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

Guest Speaker – Joel Reynolds, Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney and co-director of the NRDC Urban Program

Student Speakers – Julia Griffin, conservation planning; Samantha Port-Minner, coastal marine resource management

Saturday, June 13, Commencement Green

9 a.m. – Science and Mathematics

Guest Speaker – Bob Duggan, chair and CEO, Biotech Company, Pharmacyclics; UCSB Foundation Trustee

Student Speaker – Heather Nicole Berry, hydrologic sciences and policy

1 p.m. – Engineering and Science

Guest Speaker – Paul Roberts, best-selling author and journalist

Student Speaker – Laurel Kathleen Wixson, chemical engineering

4 p.m. – Social Sciences I

Guest Speaker – Benjamin J. Cohen, Louis G. Lancaster Professor of International Political Economy at UCSB

Student Speaker – Jacob Thomas Whitman, business economics

Sunday, June 14, Commencement Green

9 a.m. – Social Sciences II

Guest Speaker – Mark Juergensmeyer, UCSB professor of global and international studies and Sociology, and director, Orfalea Center for Global

and International Studies

Student Speaker – Anna Elizabeth Berces, communication

1 p.m. – Humanities and Fine Arts

Guest Speaker – Alan F. Horn, president and chief operating officer, Warner Bros.

Student Speaker – MaryKate Duryee Moran, English

4 p.m. – Graduate Division

Guest Speaker – Rev. Anne Howard, executive director, The Beatitudes Society

Student Speaker – Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, Ph.D. candidate, history

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.