Commencement
Penn State holds commencement exercises for graduate students three times a year: at the end of the fall and spring semesters and at the end of the summer session. See the Penn State Commencement Ceremonies Web Site (http://commencement.psu.edu/) for the exact dates. Attendance at commencement is expected. Students who do not attend will receive their diplomas in the mail after the ceremony. Diplomas are mailed by the University Registrar, and mailing addresses should be updated on eLion.
Listed below are the Graduate School commencement speakers from 1996 to the present. Links are included to the addresses that were provided to us by our speakers.
- Eva J. Pell, Senior Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, Penn State, Fall 2009
- Bruce A. McPheron, incoming Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State, Spring 2009
- Ann C. Crouter, Raymond E. and Erin Stuart Schultz Dean of the College of Health and Human Development, Penn State, Fall 2008.
- Peter J. Hudson, Willaman Professor of Biology and Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State, Summer 2008
- Susan K. Avery, President and Director, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Spring 2008
- William Easterling, Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Penn State, Fall 2007
- Barbara O. Korner, Dean of the College of Arts and Architecture, Penn State, Summer 2007
- Nicholas Winograd, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Penn State, Spring 2007
- Henry C. Foley, Dean of the College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State, Fall 2006
- Daniel J. Cosgrove, Eberly Professor of Biology, Penn State, Summer 2006
- Raymond L. Orbach, Director of the Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, Spring 2006
- Arden L. Bement, Director, National Science Foundation, Fall 2005
- Harry R. Allcock,Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Penn State, Summer 2005
- Debra W. Stewart, President, Council of Graduate Schools, Spring 2005
- Mary Jane Irwin, A. Robert Noll Chair in Engineering in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Penn State, Fall 2004
- Joanna Floros, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Penn State College of Medicine, Summer 2004
- Richard Alley, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Penn State, Spring 2004
- A. Catharine Ross, Professor of Nutrition, Penn State, Fall 2003
- James B. Thomas, Dean of the School of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State, Summer 2003
- Lee Ann Newsom, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Penn State, Spring 2003
- Eric J. Barron, Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Penn State, Fall 2002
- Douglas A. Anderson, Dean of the College of Communications, Penn State, Summer 2002
- John A. Dutton, Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Penn State, Spring 2002
- Raymond T. Coward, Dean of the College of Health and Human Development, Penn State, Fall 2001
- Daniel J. Larson, Dean of the Eberly College of Science, Penn State, Summer 2001
- Judy D. Olian, Dean of the Smeal College of Business, Penn State, Spring 2001
- Richard W. Durst, Dean of the College of Arts and Architecture, Penn State, Fall 2000
- William "Billy" Taylor, jazz pianist, composer, educator, author and broadcaster, Creative Music Artist Management & Publicity, Summer 2000
- Wilson J. Moses, Ferree Professor of American History, Penn State, Spring 2000
- David H. Monk, Dean of the College of Education, Penn State, Fall 1999
- Leon M. Lederman, recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics, Summer 1999
- Stanley O. Ikenberry, President on the American Council on Education, Spring 1999
- John Brighton, Executive Vice President and Provost of Penn State, Fall 1998
- Robert D. Steele, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State, Summer 1998
- Cynthia A. Baldwin, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas judge and member of Penn State's Board of Trustees, Spring 1998
- Harry R. Allcock, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Penn State, Fall 1997
- Nina V. Fedoroff, Professor of Biology, the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences, director of the Life Sciences Consortium, and Director of the Penn State Biotechnology Institute, Summer 1997
- Jules B. LaPidus, President of the Council of Graduate Schools, Spring 1997
- Anne C. Petersen, Senior Vice President, Kellogg Foundation, and former Dean of Penn State's College of Health and Human Development, Fall 1996
- David A. Shirley, Senior Vice President for Research and Graduate Education, 1992-1995, Penn State, Summer 1996
- William "Bill" Jefferson Clinton, the forty-second President of the United States, Spring 1996