Commencement
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This year, the University of Southern Indiana’s Spring Commencement was held on campus for the first time since 1991. Five ceremonies were held over two days, April 27-28, in the Physical Activities Center (PAC), with a reception following each ceremony.
"Since we have held the fall Commencement on campus, graduates and their families have responded enthusiastically to being at USI for degree conferral," said President Linda L. M. Bennett. "With spring Commencement now on campus, more families experienced a memorable connection to the University at the time of great achievement for our graduates."
More than 950 of the 1,400 eligible students participated in Commencement, including 16 summa cum laude graduates, 100 magna cum laude graduates, 128 cum laude graduates, and 51 University Honors Scholars. Participation in spring 2012 Commencement was up by almost 10 percent over spring 2011.
A ceremony for graduate students was held April 27. Undergraduates participated in four ceremonies April 28, including College of Business and Division of Outreach and Engagement, College of Liberal Arts, Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education, and College of Nursing and Health Professions
Speakers at each Commencement ceremony were USI alumni who have excelled in their professional lives. They came from Chicago, Evansville, Henderson, Nashville, and Princeton, New Jersey. "We celebrate our alumni and are pleased to have alumni representatives address our graduates," Bennett said. "They are resounding models for our graduates."
Dr. Sheila Lynn Hauck, executive director of Professional Practice for Oncology and Palliative Care at St. Mary’s Medical Center, delivered the Commencement address at Friday’s ceremony. In 1997, she was a member of USI’s first graduating class in the master’s level nursing program when she completed a post-master’s certificate in the family nurse practitioner track. In 2011, she was among the first graduates of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. Also during the ceremony, USI President Emeritus H. Ray Hoops and his wife Linda received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees.
New Jersey resident Valerie McKinney, who earned a Master of Business Administration degree from USI in 2005, spoke for the College of Business and Division of Outreach and Engagement ceremony. She is the global serialization operations lead for Bristol-Myers Squibb and directs a cross functional global team to implement pharmaceutical serialization through the company, including all third party manufacturers and logistics partners.
College of Liberal Arts graduates heard Joycelyn Winnecke, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in communications from USI in 1982. Winnecke is vice president and associate editor of the Chicago Tribune and is the sister of Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke. In 2004, she received USI’s Distinguished Alumni Award. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Joey V. Barnett is professor of pharmacology, medicine, pediatrics, and pathology, microbiology, and immunology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He also serves as vice chair of the Department of Pharmacology and recently stepped down as director of the graduate training program in pharmacology after serving in this capacity for more than 10 years. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from USI in 1981. Barnett addressed graduates in the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education. Dr. Paul A. Kuban, associate professor of engineering, received the 2012 Distinguished Professor Award during this ceremony. The President’s Medal, the highest honor presented to a USI graduate, was presented to Phillip H. Behrens, IV.
J. Wayne Meriwether was the speaker at the ceremony for the College of Nursing and Health Professions. He is the chief operating officer at Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Kentucky. He earned a Master of Health Administration degree from USI in 2008.