GRANVILLE, Ohio—Events for Denison University’s 171st Commencement exercises will be held on Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13. Baccalaureate celebrations will take place at 1:30 p.m. and again at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, in Swasey Chapel (200 Chapel Drive). The Commencement ceremony, which will feature Dr. Ellen Gould Chadwick ’75 delivering the keynote address, will take place at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 13, on the Fine Arts Quadrangle (240 West Broadway), weather permitting. In the case of inclement weather, the Mitchell Athletics Center (200 Livingston Drive) has been designated as the alternate site for Commencement. For more information regarding the commencement events, visit www.denison.edu/commencement.
Denison President Dale Knobel said of Commencement, “At Denison, we work hard to provide a celebratory setting for graduates, their families and their friends to observe this very important passage in life. I know Commencement will be a time for the graduates of 2012 to look back upon the special relationships forged with fellow students, faculty and staff, as well as upon the learning that has taken place both in and out of the classroom.” He added, “It also is a time to look into the future, anticipating how these bonds and this education have prepared Denison men and women for productive, responsible and rewarding lives.”
Some 520 graduating seniors will receive their Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees during the ceremony. In accordance with tradition, retiring faculty will be recognized, this year’s being; Judith P. Cochran, professor of modern languages; Charles F. O’Keefe, professor of modern languages; and Donald G. Schilling, professor of history.
Dr. Chadwick, a member of the Denison class of 1975, is the Irene Heinz Given and John LaPorte Given Chair in Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the associate director for the Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal HIV Infection section of the Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
A specialist in infectious diseases and pediatric and adolescent HIV/AIDS, Chadwick is the chairperson of domestic and international protocols investigating the pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenomics and efficacy of new antiretroviral agents and approaches to therapy for HIV-infected infants. In response to the growth of pediatric AIDS in international settings, she has traveled to several African nations to train physicians about prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected children. And as associate chair for education at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Chadwick oversees the education mission for the Department of Pediatrics. The college will confer an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree upon Chadwick at the ceremony.
During commencement, graduating seniors, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to don green ribbons signifying that they have signed the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility. The pledge states, “I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organization for which I work.” The Environmental Studies Senior Fellows and the Office of Sustainability coordinate the program.
About Denison:
Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.
