Ready, Set, Go

By the close of the 2016–2017 academic year, UC Santa Barbara will have awarded a combined 5,770 undergraduate and graduate degrees. That accomplishment will be celebrated in eight official commencement ceremonies, to be held on campus over eight days, starting June 11 and concluding June 18.

The ceremonies are organized by college, level of degree and field of study. Chancellor Henry T. Yang will shake the hand of every student graduating from the College of Creative Studies, the College of Engineering, the College of Letters and Science, the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Graduate Division.

The College of Creative Studies will lead off with its ceremony Sunday, June 11, at 11 a.m. in Campbell Hall. The Bren School of Environmental Science & Management will conduct its ceremony Friday, June 16, at 10 a.m. in the Bren Hall Courtyard.

On the weekend of Saturday, June 17, and Sunday, June 18, six ceremonies — three each day — will be held on the Commencement Green fronting the UCSB Lagoon.

All eight ceremonies will be webcast live. Over June 17-18, web coverage will be continuous, beginning at 8:30 a.m., running through and between the 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. events. The live stream can be accessed via the UCSB homepage.

A listing of ceremonies and guest speakers follows.

Sunday, June 11, Campbell Hall

11 a.m. – College of Creative Studies

Guest Speaker – Norman I. Badler ’70, Rachleff Professor of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania

Friday, June 16, Bren Hall Courtyard

10 a.m. – Bren School of Environmental Science & Management

Guest Speaker – Jill Gravender Matteson ’99, director of innovative partnerships, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation

Saturday, June 17, Commencement Green

9 a.m. – Sciences

Guest Speaker – Dr. Raquel Izumi, founder, Acerta Pharma

Student Speaker – Timothy Ngo, biological sciences

1 p.m. – Engineering and Sciences

Guest Speaker – Diego Rey ’04, founder and head of research, GeneWEAVE

Student Speakers – Spencer Ma, chemistry; Alok Gupta, computer engineering

4 p.m. – Social Sciences I

Guest Speaker – Angel Martinez, former president and chief executive officer, Deckers Outdoor Corporation

Student Speaker – Jane Elizabeth Kennedy, communication, political science

Sunday, June 18, Commencement Green

9 a.m. – Social Sciences II

Guest Speaker – Tony Cárdenas, Congressman, 29^th District of California

Student Speaker – Bridget Kyeremateng, Black studies, feminist studies

1 p.m. – Humanities and Arts

Guest Speaker – T.A. Barron, award-winning author

Student Speaker – Juan Carlos Valencia, English

4 p.m. – Graduate Division

Guest Speaker – Lois Capps, educator, advocate, community leader, former U.S. Representative   

Student Speaker – Joshua Kuntzman, Ph.D., education