Kent State’s Summer Commencement Ceremonies Occur Aug. 11 and 13

Summer 2011 Commencement Ceremonies at Kent State University are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 11, at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 13, at 10 a.m. The Thursday evening ceremony for those receiving doctoral degrees will be held in the E. Turner Stump Theatre in the Music and Speech Center, which is located on Theatre Drive. The Saturday ceremony for those receiving master’s and baccalaureate degrees will occur in the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.

Approximately 1,500 degrees will be granted. The commencement ceremonies may be viewed live at http://www.kent.edu/commencement/webcast/live-webcast.cfm.


DOCTORAL COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY - Watch Video:

Thursday, Aug. 11, at 6 p.m.
Location: E. Turner Stump Theatre, Music and Speech Center
Speaker: Dr. Oleg Lavrentovich, Trustees Research Professor, Kent State University

About the Speaker:
Dr. Oleg D. Lavrentovich graduated from the Department of Physics at Kiev State University in 1980 and received his Ph.D. (1984) and Doctor of Sciences (1990) degrees in physics and mathematics from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Lavrentovich has held visiting scientist and invited professor positions in France, United Kingdom and Republic of Korea. He came to Kent State in 1992 as a senior research fellow at the Liquid Crystal Institute. For eight years, from 2003 till 2011, he led the Liquid Crystal Institute as its director. He is currently the Trustees Research Professor at Kent State. He has secured more than $20 million in research grants.

Dr. Lavrentovich received the Distinguished Scholar award at Kent State and directed 15 Ph.D. dissertations. His current research focuses on new applications of liquid crystals, ranging from electrophoresis to transformation optics and biological sensing.


MASTER’S AND BACCALAUREATE CEREMONY - Watch Video:

Saturday, Aug. 13, at 10 a.m.
Location: Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center
Speaker: Dr. Linda I. Moore, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Emerson College

About the Speaker:
Dr. Linda I. Moore has served as vice president for Academic Affairs at Emerson College since the fall of 2003. Previously, she served as the dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University in Detroit, where she was also a tenured professor of communication. Moore served as a tenured professor at the University of Akron, where she held several administrative positions, including the dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts.

She holds degrees from Bradley University and Kent State University and also has held American Council on Education and Ford Foundation fellowships. Her responsibilities include budget space and the college’s academic programs, including the School of the Arts, School of Communication and the Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies; the Library; the Department of Professional Studies and Special Programs; the Department of External Programs and Study Abroad, which includes the Los Angeles Program and the Castle Well semester-abroad program in Holland.

For more information, visit the Commencement website at www.kent.edu/commencement.

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Media Contact:
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595