Colorado State University Awards Degrees to Fall Graduates
Colorado State University will confer degrees on Fall 2005 graduates during ceremonies on Dec. 16 and 17. Diplomas will be awarded to 1,470 undergraduate baccalaureate degree candidates and 339 graduate degree candidates, including 63 doctoral candidates. Seven ROTC Air Force graduates will be commissioned.
Commencement speakers include Ed Warner, for whom Colorado State University recently named the Warner College of Natural Resources. Warner, who recently donated $30 million to the college, will address natural resources graduates. Additional speakers include local real estate leader and former honorary degree recipient, Robert Everitt; Michael Bowman, a leader in addressing energy sustainability issues with legislators; and Fort Collins Mayor Doug Hutchinson.
Warner is a 1968 Colorado State graduate with a degree in geology. Warner, a Colorado State University College of Natural Resources Honor Alumnus, discovered Jonah Field in 1992, the single largest natural gas field in the Rocky Mountain region in the past 20 years. His discovery of the Jonah Field is expected to yield 3,500 wells and 8.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in a thick, non-marine section of sandstone and shale that is trapped in an extraordinary geologic structure. The gas holdings could be worth more than $60 billion over the lifetime of the field.
Everitt moved to Fort Collins in 1953 to manage a recently-acquired family lumberyard and expanded the business to include real estate development within a few short years. Today, the 50-year-old Everitt family real estate business includes residential and commercial developments in Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma. Everitt will address the College of Business.
Bowman was raised on his family’s ranch in eastern Colorado and has been active in rural development projects in Wray and Yuma County. He sits on multiple national advisory councils including the Heartland Center for Leadership Development in Lincoln, Neb., and the Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management in Albuquerque. He is a founding member of the Colorado Renewable Energy Forum as well as the Colorado Ethanol Marketing Coalition. He served as rural chairman for Congressman Mark Udall’s agricultural energy task force and has worked in Washington, D.C., with the offices of Sen. Ken Salazar and Congressman Udall on sustainability issues.
Hutchinson graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in physical science in 1965. He retired from the U.S. Air Force as a lieutenant colonel and then served for 10 years as a civilian with the Department of Defense. Prior to being elected mayor in 2005, Hutchinson wrote a regular political community column for the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper for more than three years.
Following is a list of commencement ceremony times, locations and speakers for each college.
Friday, Dec. 16
– Air Force ROTC commissioning – 1:30 p.m., Lory Student Center Mail Ballroom.
– Graduate School – 3 p.m., Moby Arena.
President Larry Edward Penley will confer degrees and give the class charge.
– College of Agricultural Sciences – 7 p.m., Lory Student Center Main Ballroom.
Michael Bowman will give the commencement address. Hank Gardner, vice president for Research, will give the charge to the class and confer degrees. Diane Evans, member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System, will give closing remarks.
– College of Applied Human Sciences – 7:30 p.m., Moby Arena.
Fred Kerst, member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System, will confer the degrees. Bradford W. Sheafor, professor in the School of Social Work, will give the charge to the class. Linda Kuk, vice president for Student Affairs, will congratulate the honorary societies and honors program graduates.
Saturday, Dec. 17
– College of Engineering – 9 a.m., Lory Student Center Main Ballroom.
Gearold "Gerry" Johnson, the George T. Abell chair and emeritus professor in the Department of Engineering, will give the commencement address. President Larry Edward Penley will confer the degrees and give the charge to the graduates.
– College of Business – 9 a.m., Moby Arena.
The commencement address will be given by Robert S. Everitt, recipient of an honorary doctorate degree in May 2005 from Colorado State University. Provost and Senior Vice President Anthony A. Frank will give the charge to the class, and Patrick Grant, member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System, will confer the degrees.
– Warner College of Natural Resources – 12:30 p.m., Lory Student Center.
Mr. Edward Warner, for whom the college was recently named, will be the guest speaker. Vice President Donald Fry will confer the degrees.
– College of Natural Sciences – 12:30 p.m., Moby Arena.
The commencement address will be given by Fort Collins Mayor Doug Hutchinson. Provost and Senior Vice President Anthony A. Frank will confer the degrees and give the charge to the class. Congratulatory remarks will be given by Fred Kerst, member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System.
– College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences – 4 p.m., Lory Student Center.
The commencement speaker will be David P. Gilkey, director of undergraduate programs and assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences. Interim Vice President for Research Hank Gardner will provide remarks and confer the degrees.
– College of Liberal Arts – 4 p.m., Moby Arena.
The charge to the class will be given by interim Dean Ann Gill, and Vice President for Administrative Services Keith Ickes will present the class. Fred Kerst, member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System, will confer the degrees.
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