UF To Hold Three Spring Commencement Ceremonies For the First Time

April 27, 1998

GAINESVILLE — The University of Florida for the first time will hold three separate commencement ceremonies Saturday (5/2), marking the end of the spring term. The change was made to accommodate the number of spring graduates and allow their families and friends the opportunity to attend the ceremony.

According to the registrar’s office, 5,140 students are eligible to receive degrees, with 3,718 expected to participate in one of the three ceremonies, scheduled for two hours each at 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Nobel laureate David M. Lee is scheduled to receive an honorary doctor of science for his work in low-temperature physics, including his part in the 1972 discovery of superfluid helium 3. James H. Shimberg will receive a distinguished achievement award for his dedication to providing safe, decent and affordable housing for Floridians. Shimberg made a $1 million gift to UF in 1991 that helped, with state matching funds, to create the multidisciplinary Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing.

Three UF graduates will be honored as distinguished alumni: Girard F. Anderson, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of TECO Energy; John H. Dasburg, president and CEO of Northwest Airlines and Jerry W. Davis, the co-founder, president, CEO and chair of Computer Management Services Inc., a Jacksonville-based computer consulting firm.

Student honorees include outstanding female leaders Brenda Lynn Johnson, a management major from Largo; Ingrid Ting Lim, a cellular and molecular neuroscience major from Tampa; and Jocelyn Amelia Steiner, a philosophy/English major from Satellite Beach.

Outstanding male leaders are Victor Lamar Howard, a management major from Miami; Gary Scott Slossberg, a psychology major from Boca Raton; and David Carter Thomas, a civil engineering major from Winter Haven.

Four-year scholars are Rachel Mara Block, a political science major from Gainesville; Allison Elizabeth Langer, an accounting major from Longwood; Elise Ruth Manning, a chemistry major from Palm Bay; and Kristen Klara Reyher, a zoology major from Niceville.

Two-year scholars to be honored are John William Gianini, a microbiology and cell science major from Lakeland; Amy Marie Kesler, an elementary education major from Ft. Pierce; and Rachel Leah McClellan, a speech pathology and audiology major from Lake City.

Heather Jane Lawrence, a sports management major from Issaquah, Wash., and Daniel Garnett Williams, a fall graduate in exercise and sports sciences from Dunedin, will receive the Tracy Caulkins and Doug Belden awards, respectively, for excellence in academics as well as athletics.

The College of Medicine will confer degrees on 117 new physicians during ceremonies at 10 a.m. in the UF Center for the Performing Arts (CPA) with scheduled keynote speakers Dr. Gene Ryerson, professor of pulmonary medicine, and Dr. Thomas J. Krizek, vice chairman of the University of South Florida department of surgery.

The College of Law has scheduled its commencement for 10:30 a.m. May 16 in the CPA, awarding 202 law degrees, with Howard Cooker, president-elect of The Florida Bar, the invited speaker.

The College of Dentistry expects to award 77 doctor of medical dentistry degrees during its commencement ceremony at 2:30 p.m. May 22 in the CPA. The College of Veterinary Medicine commencement will be at 2 p.m. May 23 in University Memorial Auditorium. The school will confer 77 doctor of veterinary medicine degrees along with two master’s degrees and one doctorate. The scheduled commencement speaker is Geneva Keen Acor, program director of the veterinary technology program at Brevard Community College in Cocoa.