June 3, 2008

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 8 and concluding June 15.

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 8, at

11 a.m. in Campbell Hall.

The Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management will conduct its ceremony on Friday, June 13, at 10 a.m. in the Bren Hall Courtyard.

On the weekend of Saturday, June 14, and Sunday, June 15, 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/2008x/speakers.shtml

Sunday, June 8, Campbell Hall

11 a.m. - College of Creative Studies

Guest Speaker – Kit Boise-Cossart, green building contractor

Student Speakers – Grant Buchowicz, physics; Jennifer Marsh, art and art history; Ellen O'Connell, literature

Friday, June 13, Bren Courtyard

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

Guest Speaker – Lee Stein, environmental entrepreneur

Student Speakers – Class chairs Ashley Conrad-Saydah and Trevor O'Grady

Saturday, June 14, Commencement Green

9 a.m. - Science and Mathematics

Guest Speaker – Daniel P. Burnham, retired chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company, UCSB Foundation Trustee

Student Speaker – Lindsay Walker, psychology

1 p.m. - Engineering and Science

Guest Speaker – Wes Bush, president and chief operating officer for Northrop Grumman Corporation

Student Speaker – Camille Bennett, mechanical engineering

4 p.m. - Social Sciences I

Guest Speaker – Sara Miller McCune, founder and executive chairman of SAGE Publications, UCSB Foundation Trustee

Student Speaker – Andrew Kitirattragarn, business economics

Sunday, June 15, Commencement Green

9 a.m. - Social Sciences II

Guest Speaker – Emmett D. Carson, CEO and president, Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Student Speaker – Mario Galicia, Jr., Chicana and Chicano studies and sociology

1 p.m. - Humanities and Fine Arts

Guest Speaker – Renée Montagne, host of National Public Radio's Morning Edition

Student Speaker – Scott Raymond, geography and art studio

4 p.m. - Graduate Division

Guest Speaker – UCSB alumnus Leroy Chiao M.S. '85, Ph.D. '87, NASA astronaut, professor of mechanical engineering, Louisiana State University

Student Speaker – Roxanne Moschetti, Ph.D., education

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.