Penn State announces spring 2016 commencement events and speakers

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — This spring Penn State expects to award 13,604 diplomas to students University-wide who are completing 429 associate, 11,064 baccalaureate, 1,534 master’s, 159 law, 244 doctoral and 174 medical degrees, bringing the University’s number of graduates to an estimated total of more than 773,842.

At University Park, two students are expected to receive associate degrees, while 8,954 will be awarded baccalaureate degrees. Approximately 1,033 master’s degree students are expected to graduate, as are 244 doctoral degree candidates.

All figures listed are estimates as of April 4; totals do not include Penn College.

Following is a compilation of commencement ceremonies and speaker information for Penn State’s 24 locations. Additional information about University Park commencement is available at http://commencement.psu.edu.

Penn State Abington

10 a.m. Friday, May 6, Athletic Building

Speaker: Lorraine C. Basara

A three-sport athlete at Penn State Abington, Basara completed her bachelor's degree in health and physical education at University Park in 1975. She is the secretary of the Abington Alumni Board as well as a member of the Abington Athletics Advisory Board. Over the years, athletes from grade school through adult leagues benefited from Basara's love of teaching and coaching field hockey, basketball and softball. 

She currently serves as a senior human resources manager in the federal government responsible for developing aspiring and current leaders. She teaches succession planning, mentoring and coaching. Her extensive background includes designing and developing training for adult learners.

http://abington.psu.edu/commencement

Penn State Altoona

10 a.m. Saturday, May 7,  Jaffa Shrine, Altoona, Pennsylvania
Speaker: Ashley Schroeder, 2005 graduate of Penn State, with a master's degree in education. Schroeder spread her wings beyond the classroom with the opening of a "Teachers Pay Teachers" shop, replete with digital teaching resources and materials. Her entrepreneurial journey has continued to grow and flourish, leading to numerous opportunities for her continued success and presence as a "teacherpreneur".

www.altoona.psu.edu/commencement

Penn State Beaver

7 p.m. Friday, May 6, Student Union Building Auditorium

Speaker: Jill Marsilio-Colonna

Marsilio-Colonna is the recently retired executive director of the Women's Center of Beaver County. She attended Penn State Beaver for two years before moving to University Park and graduating with a degree in health and human development.

http://www.br.psu.edu/Academics/27861.htm

Penn State Berks

Saturday, May 7, Perkins Plaza (Rain Location: Beaver Community Center)

10 a.m., EBC division

 2 p.m., HASS and science divisions

Speaker: Khalid N. Mumin

Mumin has served as the superintendent of the Reading School District since 2014. Previously, he was employed as superintendent of Caroline County Public Schools in Maryland. Throughout his career, he has gained a meaningful experience in various capacities as a teacher, dean of students, principal and central administrator. With a commitment to promoting and sustaining student achievement, equity and access to educational programming for all students, as well as creating plans that are fiscally responsible, Mumin considers himself a change agent. He maintains a keen focus on fostering collaboration with stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers, administrators, community, public officials, business partners, colleges and universities.

http://www.bk.psu.edu/Academics/CommencementSchedule.htm

Penn State Brandywine

10 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Commons/Athletic Building

Speaker:  Jennifer Morgan, president, SAP North America

Jennifer Morgan was appointed president of SAP North America in May 2014. She is responsible for leading the business in the North America region, serving more than 90,000 customers in 25 industries across the United States and Canada.

http://brandywine.psu.edu/graduation-information

The Dickinson School of Law, Penn State Dickinson Law (Carlisle)

10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Lewis Katz Hall

Speaker: Drew Katz, chief executive officer, Interstate Outdoor Advertising

For almost two decades, Katz has served as chief executive officer of one of the nation’s premier and fastest growing out-of-home advertising firms, Interstate Outdoor Advertising. During this time, Katz has had the privilege of overseeing its rapid growth and reach. Interstate currently owns and operates more than 1,100 billboards and poster panel faces, bus shelters, free standing advertising kiosks and vertaculars, Times Square spectaculars and wallscapes in three of America’s top four media markets (New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia) as well as in South and North Jersey, and San Francisco. Katz is the son of the late Lewis Katz, 1966 Penn State graduate.

https://dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/events/commencement-2016

Dickinson School of Law, Penn State Law (University Park)

10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 14, Eisenhower Auditorium

Speaker: Richard L. Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO

Trumka was elected president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO, the largest organization of labor unions in the country, in 2009, after serving as the organization’s secretary-treasurer from 1995 to 2009. Prior to joining the AFL-CIO, Trumka was president of United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) for 13 years, after being elected in 1982 at age 33 as the youngest president in the organization’s history.

https://pennstatelaw.psu.edu/office-student-services/commencement-2016

Penn State DuBois

7 p.m. Friday, May 6, DuBois Country Club

Speaker: U.S. Representative Glenn Thompson

Congressman Glenn Thompson represents Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, spanning North Central Pennsylvania. He was first elected in 2008, and was sworn in for his third term in January of 2013.

Thompson is a life-long resident of Howard Township, Centre County. Previously, he worked for nearly 30 years in health care as a therapist, rehabilitation services manager and a licensed nursing home administrator. Thompson serves on the House Agricultural Committee, including the Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee, the House Natural Resources Committee, and the House Education and Workforce Committee.

http://dubois.psu.edu/Academics/DuBoisCommencement.htm

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

6:30 p.m. Friday, May 6, Erie Insurance Arena

Speaker: Ashutosh V. Deshmukh

Deshmukh recently served as an expert witness for the United States House of Representatives. He has previous industry experience as an audit manager, a management accountant, and a systems consultant.

https://psbehrend.psu.edu/news-events/events-on-campus/may-6-commencement

Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus

10 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Community Center, Main Arena

Speaker: Honorable Linda R. Cordaro, judge, Fayette County Court of Common Pleas

Prior to taking the bench in 2013, she practiced law in Connellsville and served as Assistant District Attorney in Fayette County. Judge Cordaro presides over criminal and civil court cases, as well as cases involving family law, juvenile dependency and adoptions.

http://www.fe.psu.edu/Academics/graduation.htm

The School of Graduate Professional Studies, Penn State Great Valley

7 p.m. Friday, May 6, outdoors on campus

Speaker: F. William McNabb III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vanguard

McNabb joined Vanguard in 1986, became chief executive officer in 2008, and chairman of the board of directors and the board of trustees in 2010.  Previously, he led each of Vanguard’s client-facing business divisions. McNabb is active in the investment management industry and serves as the chairman of the Investment Company Institute. He also serves as chairman of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia and on the board of the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, the Wharton Leadership Advisory Board, and the Dartmouth Athletic Advisory Board. McNabb earned a bachelor of arts from Dartmouth College and a master of business administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

http://www.sgps.psu.edu/Academics/graduation.htm

Penn State Greater Allegheny

11 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Wunderley Gymnasium

Speaker: Rula Skezas, superintendent for McKeesport Area School District

Skezas has been the Superintendent for the McKeesport Area School District (MASD) since 2013. Her professional teaching career started in the Frederick County School system in Maryland and continued in the South Park School District prior to coming “home” to MASD.

Skezas is a member of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, Phi Delta Kappa International, Pennsylvania School Board Association, American Association of School Personnel Administrators and Pennsylvania Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. She has presented at the Governor’s School Institute of Math at Pennsylvania State University, and the Title I School Wide Conference in Philadelphia,

Skezas received her bachelor of science in education, master of science in education, elementary administration, superintendent’s letter of eligibility and doctor of education from Duquesne University.

www.greaterallegheny.psu.edu

Penn State Harrisburg

9:30 a.m. Sunday, May 8, The Giant Center - Hershey, Pennsylvania

Speaker:  David Black, president and CEO of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber and Capital Region Economic Development Corporation (HRC/CREDC)

Black has helped to develop a solid reputation for the region and the organization with talented staff, quality events, member services, legislative advocacy and economic development projects of over $450 million in economic impact, helping local businesses create and retain over 13,500 jobs.

In addition to his duties at HRC/CREDC, Black serves on many economic development related not for profit Boards.  He has also been involved in the City of Harrisburg’s journey to fiscal recovery over the past several years.

Before joining HRC/CREDC in 2001, Black served in several key roles for Gov. Tom Ridge leading development and implementation of innovative programs and helping to create the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, serving as deputy secretary. He also served as COO of Team Pennsylvania where he helped Ridge restructure the Foundation as a long term tool for economic development in Pennsylvania. 

https://harrisburg.psu.edu/commencement

Penn State Hazleton

7 p.m. Friday, May 6, Thomas M. Caccese Gymnasium in the Physical Education Building

Speaker: Associate Professor of Theater Susan Russell

Russell, the 2014-15 Penn State laureate, is an associate professor in the School of Theatre at Penn State University Park, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in literature/criticism, playwriting, musical theater history, and women in theater.

She visited Penn State Hazleton on two previous occasions, once to speak on the topic of the decline of social interaction in society and once as part of her Dignity Tour for Penn State Hazleton’s annual diversity presentation in 2015.

http://news.psu.edu/story/400278/2016/03/28/susan-russell-named-commencement-speaker-penn-state-hazleton

Penn State Hershey College of Medicine

1 p.m. Sunday, May 15, Founders Hall, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Speaker: Karen DeSalvo, acting assistant secretary for health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

While serving as acting assistant secretary, DeSalvo remains in her role as the national coordinator for Health Information Technology. She was a professor of medicine and vice dean for community affairs and health policy at Tulane University School of Medicine. She served as president of the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, the state’s lead for the health information exchange, and the National Association of Chiefs of General Internal Medicine. She has also served on the boards of the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Society of General Internal Medicine.

http://www.pennstatehershey.org/web/educationalaffairs/home/upcoming/graduation

Penn State Lehigh Valley

10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 7, at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Speaker: Bill Phillips, vice president and editor-in-chief of Men’s Health

In his role as vice president and editor-in-chief of the world’s largest men’s magazine brand, Phillips oversees multiple editorial platforms including print, digital, social, television and branded books, which collectively reach a monthly audience of more than 35 million.

In 2015, under Phillips’ leadership, Men’s Health won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, the industry’s highest honor. He has been nominated as a writer, too, for his 2005 feature story, “Hunting My Father’s Killer."

http://www.lv.psu.edu/Academics/26802.htm

Penn State Mont Alto

10 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Multipurpose Activities Center

Speaker: Barbara Stankowski, 1970 Penn State graduate; captain, U.S. Navy (Ret); and president and CEO of AMTIS

Mont Alto alumna Barbara Stankowski will deliver the 2016 Commencement address to Penn State Mont Alto graduates on May 7. Stankowski is president and chief executive officer of AMTIS, Inc., which provides the Department of Defense and other government agencies with information technology, professional management and educational support services. The company has received several awards, most recently, it was named “One of the Top 100 Businesses in the United States for 2015” by Diversity Business. Stankowski holds a master of science degree in computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School and a bachelor of science in psychology from Penn State and was inducted as a Penn State Alumni Fellow in 1996. She is also a graduate of the Joint Forces Staff College.

http://montalto.psu.edu/Academics/graduation.htm

Penn State New Kensington

10 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Athletics Center

Speaker: Jim Shorkey, life success coach

Shorkey is the owner of Results from Thinking, LLC, a Life Success Coaching Company. He developed a success formula to achieve incredible results, which he now teaches to others. He formally owned a car dealership in western Pennsylvania.

http://www.nk.psu.edu/Academics/graduation.htm

Penn State Schuylkill

10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Campus Green

Speaker Marcus Whitehurst, vice provost for educational equity

Whitehurst assumed responsibilities as vice provost for educational equity effective Sept. 1, 2015, following nearly 20 years of educational leadership. As vice provost, he oversees 13 units with 75 staff members and works collaboratively with a number of offices, both within and outside the University, with a goal of ensuring equal opportunity for a diverse body of students, faculty and staff at all Penn State locations. In addition to ensuring support for staff, undergraduate and graduate students, and several University commissions, as vice provost he works closely with the University Faculty Senate and individual faculty members to promote research, international exchanges and partnerships.

http://www.sl.psu.edu/Academics/graduation.htm

Penn State Shenango

7:30 p.m. Friday, May 6, Campus Auditorium

Speaker: Paul Bucciarelli, vice president and senior sourcing manager for The PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh.

Bucciarelli currently manages the sourcing activity and contract negotiations for PNC’s Bank Operations and Corporate Services commodity groups. He has taught management and business classes at Community College of Allegheny County, Youngstown State University and the Bradford School of Business. He is a member of the Penn State Shenango Advisory Board.

Penn State Wilkes-Barre

10 a.m. Saturday, May 7, ARB Gymnasium

Penn State Worthington Scranton

2 p.m. Saturday, May 7, Scranton Cultural Center

http://www.sn.psu.edu/academics/graduation.htm

Penn State York

6 p.m. Friday, May 6, Pullo Family Performing Arts Center

Speaker: Michael F. Allen, executive vice president, business development, Harford Bank

Allen, executive vice president for business development at Harford Bank in Aberdeen, Maryland, is the former executive-in-residence of The Graham Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies at Penn State York. He continues to serve on the Penn State York Advisory Board and is a member of the new Graham Advisory Board. 

http://www.york.psu.edu/commencement

Pennsylvania College of Technology

Community Arts Center, Williamsport

Speakers: Selected from among graduating students

3 p.m. Friday, May 13: School of Industrial, Computing and Engineering Technologies and School of Sciences, Humanities and Visual Communications

10 a.m. Saturday, May 14: School of Construction and Design Technologies and School of Health Sciences

1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14: School of Business and Hospitality and School of Transportation and Natural Resources Technologies

http://www.pct.edu/commencement/

Penn State University Park

College of Agricultural Sciences

3:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8, Bryce Jordan Center

Speaker: Keith Eckel, owner, Fred W. Eckel Sons; president, Eckel Farms, Inc.; member, Penn State Board of Trustees, elected by agricultural societies

Eckel is sole proprietor and president of Fred W. Eckel Sons Farms, Inc. in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. The farm, which produces tomatoes, sweet corn and pumpkins for fresh market, as well as corn for grain, and wheat, was also a registered dairy farm until 1986.

Eckel has been active in agriculture at the local, state, and national levels. He is past president of the Lackawanna County Cooperative Extension Association and the Endless Mountain Dairy Cooperative and is a Member of Green Grove Grange.

http://agsci.psu.edu/students/events/spring-2016-commencement

College of Arts and Architecture

Noon Saturday, May 7, Eisenhower Auditorium

Speaker: Lisa Marie Rogali

Soprano Lisa Marie Rogali, a voice student of Jennifer Trost, graduates from Penn State this May with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education. Post-graduation, Rogali plans to attend the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music to pursue a master’s degree in voice and opera performance.

Throughout her time at Penn State, Rogali has been an active performer in both opera and musical theater settings. Some of her Penn State Opera Theatre credits include Elle in "La voix humaine," Musetta in "La boheme," Blanche de la force in "Dialogues of the Carmelites," and Dorabella in "Cosi!" She has also sung leading roles in Leonard Bernstein’s "MASS," produced for the College of Arts and Architecture’s 50th anniversary in 2013, and in Stephen Sondheim’s "Marry Me a Little" for the School of Theatre. This past summer, she performed the roles of Cosette in "Les Misérables" and Louise in "Gypsy" in the State College area. This June, she will portray the infamous Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" with FUSE Productions.

Smeal College of Business

9 a.m. Sunday May 8, Bryce Jordan Center

Speaker: Salomon “Sal” Sredni

Sredni, a 1987 graduate of the Penn State Smeal College of Business with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, is the retired president and chief executive officer of TradeStation Group, Inc. Sredni joined TradeStation, which offers analysis and trading tools to the active trader and institutional trader markets, in 1996 as vice president of operations and chief financial officer. Sredni previously worked at IVAX Corporation and Arthur Anderson, LLP. He is a member of the Smeal Board of Visitors and several professional accounting organizations and has also served on the boards of several community organizations. 

College of Communications

Noon Saturday, May 7, Bryce Jordan Center

Speaker: Donald P. Bellisario

Bellisario, a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus, has been crafting stories for a variety of audiences for more than 30 years. He’s best known as a creator/producer of groundbreaking TV series such as “Magnum, P.I.,” “Quantum Leap” and “NCIS.”

Bellisario earned his journalism degree at Penn State in 1961 and began his writing career at the Centre Daily Times in State College. He worked for the paper for four years before becoming a copywriter for a small advertising agency in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

8 p.m. Friday, May 6, Pegula Ice Arena

Speaker: Michael DiBerardinis, managing director, City of Philadelphia

DiBerardinis was appointed managing director for the City of Philadelphia on Jan. 4, 2016. He is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the activities across most major operating departments of the city. Prior to becoming managing director, DiBerardinis served as deputy mayor for Environmental and Community Resources. In that role, he provided leadership for departments that managed more than 1,000 acres of land, 150 recreation centers and playgrounds, 150 neighborhood and regional parks, 54 library branches and thousands of programs and events throughout Philadelphia. He also served as commissioner of parks and recreation, where he raised more than $34 million in government grants, philanthropic funding and private partnerships. DiBerardinis previously served the citizens of Pennsylvania as the secretary of conservation and natural resources under Gov. Ed Rendell, where he protected 150,000 acres of land – more than had been conserved in the previous 30 years combined. As secretary of conservation and natural resources, he led the creation and development of Pennsylvania Wilds.

College of Education

12:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8, Bryce Jordan Center

Speaker: Irvin Scott, director of College Ready in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

As deputy director of College Ready in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Irvin Scott works with the College Ready team to scale and spread high quality implementation of College and Career Ready standards as well as to build more effective feedback and support systems for teachers. 

This work builds on existing efforts that are occurring in the foundation’s intensive partnership, accelerated partnership, and innovation professional development sites, as well as the work that K-12 has been doing to help teachers teach to college and career ready standards through efforts such as the Literacy Design Collaborative and Math Design Collaborative. Scott is deeply engaged in scaling the elevating and celebrating effective teaching and teachers experience, which can be found at #ECET2. This teacher-led effort involves bringing thousands of teachers together to collaborate with their peers, engage in teacher leadership, and celebrate the profession. In an effort to address educational inequities in the United States, Scott is leading an effort to build strong partnerships and deeper engagement between faith-based organizations that serve many underrepresented students, families and communities.

College of Engineering

8 p.m. Friday, May 6, Bryce Jordan Center

Speaker: Shu Chien, director, Institute of Engineering in Medicine, University of California, San Diego

Chien received his medical degree from National Taiwan University and his doctorate in physiology from Columbia University, where he remained as a faculty, rising to full professor in 1969. In 1987, he took a sabbatical leave to establish the Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Academia Sinica in Taiwan. In 1988, he joined UC San Diego, where he founded the Department of Bioengineering in 1994. He is Y.C. Fung Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine and director of the Institute of Engineering in Medicine. He is one of 16 university professors in the UC system. His research emphases are blood rheology in health and disease and effects of mechanical forces on signal transduction and genetic/epigenetic regulation in relation to atherogenesis. His inventions include the use of Ras negative mutant to prevent artery restenosis, the development of a microarray system to determine the optimum microenvironment for stem cell proliferation and differentiation, and an acoustic mechanogenetic system for remote controlled gene expression and cell activation.

http://www.engr.psu.edu/commencement-2016/

College of Health and Human Development

3 p.m. Saturday, May 7, Bryce Jordan Center

Speaker: Linda Caldwell, professor of recreation, park, and tourism management

Caldwell is distinguished professor of recreation, park, and tourism management and human development and family atudies at Penn State. She is also the NCAA faculty athletics representative.

Her research primarily focuses on interventions that develop youth competencies, promote healthy lifestyles, and reduce risky behavior through leisure. Her research shows substantial evidence that what adolescents do or do not do in their free time has important developmental and health implications.

Caldwell is the co-developer of two interventions that focus on preventing adolescent risk behavior through positive use of free time: "TimeWise: Taking Charge of Leisure Time" and "HealthWise South Africa: Life Skills for Young Adults."

College of Information Sciences and Technology

3 p.m. Saturday, May 7, Eisenhower Auditorium

Speaker: Gov. Tom Ridge

Ridge is chairman of Ridge Global. He provides clients with solutions to cyber security, international security and risk management issues.

Following the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, Ridge became the first assistant to the president for homeland security and, on Jan. 24, 2003, became the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The creation of the country's 15th Cabinet Department marked the largest reorganization of government since the Truman administration and another call to service for the former soldier, congressman and governor of Pennsylvania.

Before the events of Sept. 11, Ridge was twice elected governor of Pennsylvania. He served as the state's 43rd governor from 1995 to 2001. Gov. Ridge's aggressive technology strategy helped fuel the state's advances in economic development, education, health care and the environment.

College of the Liberal Arts

6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7, Bryce Jordan Center

Speaker: Lasanthi Fernando

A Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Honors Scholar, Fernando is graduating with a bachelor of arts in philosophy and a bachelor of science in economics, along with minors in bioethics and medical humanities, and business in the liberal arts. In addition to being a legislative intern with Capitol Associates in Arlington, Virginia, Lasanthi completed research in the Netherlands and volunteered in Panama. Next year, she will continue her studies in public policy at Johns Hopkins University. Lasanthi is the daughter of Nimali Fonseka and Pathmasiri Fernando of Gaithersburg, Maryland.

College of Nursing

6 p.m. Saturday, May 7, Eisenhower Auditorium

Speaker: Donna Hart Gage, 2010 doctoral graduate from Penn State and chief nursing officer, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Gage joined the Veterans Health Administration in 2014, after working for BMC Associates in Arlington, Virginia, as a consultant and mediator for leaders in the health care industry. Previously, she served as vice president and chief nursing officer at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Gage also spent more than 10 years as chief nursing officer at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. A 2010 graduate of Penn State with a doctorate in nursing, she holds a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from The College of New Jersey. A certified nurse practitioner, she is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), the American Nurses Association (ANA) and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

http://www.nursing.psu.edu/news/commencement

Eberly College of Science

9 a.m. Saturday, May 7, Bryce Jordan Center

Speaker: John Urschel

Urschel, NFL offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, began his professional football career in 2014. Prior to being drafted by the Ravens during the fifth round of the NFL draft, he played college football for the Nittany Lions, where he not only excelled on the football field but in the classroom as well. John graduated with a 4.0 GPA and earned both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in mathematics.

During his collegiate football career, Urschel was selected a first-team All-Big Ten guard and first-team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2012, Penn State’s 2012–13 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient, and the recipient of a Sullivan Award, which is awarded to the nation’s most outstanding amateur athlete. In 2013, John became Penn State’s first William V. Campbell Trophy winner—an award often referred to as the “Academic Heisman” and presented to the nation’s top scholar-athlete.

A published mathematician, John Urschel co-authored a paper in the Journal of Computational Mathematics, titled “A Cascadic Multigrid Algorithm for Computing the Fiedler Vector of Graph Laplacians.”

He is a self-described professional mathlete and chess enthusiast, an adjunct research assistant in the department of mathematics at Penn State, and recently began his doctoral studies in mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Schreyer Honors College Medals Ceremony

5 p.m. Friday, May 6, Eisenhower Auditorium

https://www.shc.psu.edu/events/item.cfm?id=2232

The Graduate School

6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8, Bryce Jordan Center

Speaker: Rob Turrisi, professor of biobehavioral health and prevention research and professor-in-charge of the Graduate Program

Turrisi is currently a professor at Penn State with a joint appointment in the Department of Biobehavioral Health and the Prevention Research Center. His research focus is in the application of behavioral decision-making to prevent underage drinking, drunk driving and melanoma.

From 1988 to 2004, Turrisi was a director of the Prevention of Adolescent Drinking Program at the University at Albany and later a professor at Boise State, where he was a PI or Co-PI on prevention research grants totaling over $7 million from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) for his work on parenting and adolescent health in the areas of drinking and cancer prevention. Since coming to Penn State in 2004, Turrisi has been a PI or Co-PI on well over $12 million in research funds from NIAAA, National Institute on Drug Abuse, ACS, and the National Cancer Institute for his alcohol and cancer prevention work.