Eleven Commencement Ceremonies at UC San Diego Will Award 7,673 Graduates with Diplomas

June 1, 2010

By Christine Clark

An acclaimed science fiction author, the CEO of a center which reveals stories of heroes from the Underground Railroad era, and the co-founder of an organization dedicated to helping children in Uganda, will speak to 7,673 graduating students at the University of California, San Diego.  The students are scheduled to receive diplomas during 11 separate commencement ceremonies May 29 to June 13 on the UC San Diego campus. More than 65,000 family members and guests are expected to attend. Chancellor Marye Anne Fox will be speaking at all 11 ceremonies.

Leading up to the majority of the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies is the university’s third annual All Campus Graduation Celebration held at 6:30 p.m., Friday, June 11 on the RIMAC Field. The all campus event will feature a key-note speech from former UC San Diego student and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Invisible Children, Laren Poole. The organization founded in 2003, uses the power of media to inspire young people to help end the Ugandan conflict, the longest running war in Africa. Recently, Poole was with President Obama for the signing of the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery (LRA) Act— legislation that will enable the U.S. State Department to help end the war in Uganda. “Coming back to the university, right after the bill was passed, means so much to our organization and Uganda,” Poole said.

The first of the commencements was held by the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 29 in the Price Center where 53 student graduates received their Pharm.D degrees. Frank Ascione, Pharm.D, Ph.D., and dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan served as the guest speaker.

The UCSD School of Medicine will confer M.D. degrees on 122 graduates and joint M.D./Ph.D.s on six classmates at 10 a.m. Sunday, June 6 on the School of Medicine Concert Lawn. Keynote speaker is Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases – one of the National Institutes of Health. 

The first of three ceremonies scheduled for Saturday, June 12, will be held by Thurgood Marshall College at 8 a.m. on the RIMAC Field. Some 950 graduates will assemble to hear the commencement speech of Sarah Kaplan, a professor in the ethnic studies department and critical gender studies program and a faculty affiliate of African American studies at UC San Diego.

A total of 460 graduate students receiving Ph.D. and 1000 students receiving their masters degrees awarded from summer 2009 through spring 2010 will gather with more than 2,000 guests at 10:30 a.m., June 12 in the RIMAC Arena. The keynote speaker is Neal Swerdlow, ’86, M.D., Ph.D., and professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego.

Executive officer for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Donald W. Murphy ,'75, Revelle, has been selected by Revelle College to give the graduation address to 950 graduating students and some 7000 guests at 1 p.m., June 12 on the RIMAC Field. 

Muir College’s ceremony will be held at 5 p.m., June 12 on the RIMAC Field. Some 1,170 graduating students and 10,000 guests will hear keynote speaker Shokufeh Nourollahi, a graduating student who transferred to UC San Diego from a community college. Nourollahi will discuss the importance of participating in college events and experiencing student life.

Leading off four commencement ceremonies slated for Sunday, June 13 is Earl Warren College at 8 a.m. Graduating senior Kelly Kim, ’10, will speak to a crowd of 1,055 graduates and 9,000 guests on the RIMAC Field.

The School of International Relations and Pacific Studies will honor 90 graduates receiving Masters in Pacific and International Affairs (MPIA) degrees at 10:30 a.m., Sunday, June 13 at the Institute of the America’s Friends Plaza. The graduating students and more than 400 guests will gather to listen to Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, who is best known as the architect and chief negotiator of China's historic World Trade Organization Agreement.

Gregory T. Lucier, chairman and chief executive officer of Life Technologies, a global biotechnology tools company, will speak at 3 p.m., June 13 at the Rady School plaza to 57 graduates of the Rady School of Management.

The future of Sixth College will be the topic of acclaimed science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson’s, ’82, Ph.D., keynote speech at 1 p.m., Sunday, June 13 for the 910 Sixth College graduating students and more than 4,000 guests. 

Winding up the commencement series, Eleanor Roosevelt College will hold its graduation with 5,000 expected attendees to see 850 graduates receive their diplomas, the college’s largest graduating class ever.  Graduating senior Jacob Blanc will speak about his undergraduate experience and how he benefited from the college’s mission to produce global citizens.  He will also encourage his fellow graduates to travel and carry on the college’s mission. The ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. on the RIMAC Field.

Media Contact: Christine Clark, ceclark@ucsd.edu or 858-534-7618