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University of Colorado Colorado Springs GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY COMMENCEMENT DECEMBER 16, 2016 FROM THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY TO THE CLass OF 2016 Dear Graduate: One of the greatest honors for the University of Colorado Board of Regents, the institution’s governing board, is to be part of this commencement ceremony. Your success is a success for us all. Your degree is a measure not only of an accomplishment of dedication and talent, but also notice to the world that you have the skill and discipline to contribute greatly to any endeavor you pursue. This commencement ceremony, like every University of Colorado graduation since 1935, will close with the reading of the Norlin Charge. As originally expressed by former CU President George Norlin in 1935, graduation "marks your initiation in the fullest sense of the fellowship of the University, as bearers of her torch, as centers of her influence, and as promoters of her spirit." Welcome to the ranks of CU’s alumni family, which is over 350,000 strong. Congratulations on achieving this milestone. Well done and well earned! THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO Back Row: Glen Gallegos, Vice Chair, District 3 (Grand Junction); John Carson, District 6 (Highlands Ranch); Stephen Ludwig, At Large (Denver); Michael Carrigan, District 1 (Denver); Linda Shoemaker, District 2 (Boulder) Front Row: Irene Griego, Chair, District 7 (Lakewood); Kyle Hybl, District 5 (Colorado Springs); Sue Sharkey, District 4 (Castle Pines Village); Steve Bosley, At Large (Longmont) ORDER OF EXERCISES DR. CHRISTOPHER BELL, COMMENCEMENT MARSHAL UCCS MARSHAL’s CLUB MEMBER* Prelude Instrumental Music . Visual and Performing Arts Honors Ensemble Directed by Music Program Director Glen Whitehead Processional Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 1 in D, Op. 39, No. 1 – Arranged by Joseph Prostakoff* Pianist Kelly Zuercher Ceremony America the Beautiful (Lyrics on page 16) . Visual and Performing Arts Student Brittany Merritt The National Anthem (Lyrics on page 16) . Visual and Performing Arts University Choir Directed by Instructor Solveig Olsen UCCS Chancellor’s Welcome . Chancellor Pamela Shockley-Zalabak University of Colorado President's Remarks . President Bruce Benson Class of 2016 Gift . SGA President Samuel Elliott Congratulations from Distinguished Alumnus . Professor Charles Greer University Medal Presentation . Mr . Mike Fryt Recognition of the Class of 1991 . Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak Recognition of 1965 Main Hall Society Inductees . Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak Conferring of Advanced Degrees (page 17) Recognition of Honors Graduates . Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Terry Schwartz Conferring of Baccalaureate Degrees (page 22) Initiation of Graduates into Alumni and Friends Association . Graduate Travis Tafoya Students Today Alumni Tomorrow (STAT) Representative Charge to the Graduates . Regent Steve Bosley Alma Mater (Lyrics on page 16) . Visual and Performing Arts Instructor Solveig Olsen Recessional Music . Pianist Kelly Zuercher * The 2013-14 Faculty Assembly created the UCCS Marshal’s Club; the Club selects a Commencement Marshal for each graduation ceremony starting this year going forward. December 16, 2016 ◆ Commencement 1 FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY TO THE CLASS OF 2016 December 16, 2016 Dear University of Colorado Graduate, Congratulations on earning your degree from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs . This is a monumental time in your life and the lives of those who have supported you . We take great pride in what we have accomplished at UCCS, just as we take pride in your accomplishments during your time here . Accepting your degree after years of sacrifice and dedication is one of life's greatest achievements . When you walk away from this exciting day, I am confident that you will do so with a passion to pursue your dreams . Expect nothing but the best from yourself and those who surround you on your journey through life . I hope you will always remember how the university shaped you and prepared you to face life's challenges . Students who have passed through the campus's classrooms, laboratories, lecture halls and libraries have emerged with a greater understanding of their place in the world . Many of your predecessors have gone on to excel in education, the sciences, the arts, journalism, medicine and many other fields . The University of Colorado community is proud of you and your accomplishments . Welcome to the generations of alumni around the globe who carry that pride within them . Our collective legacy has been to leave a positive and meaningful mark on Colorado and the world, and I have faith that you will each contribute to that legacy . Today is your day to shine and share your accomplishments with your family and friends . We wish you success, prosperity, happiness and good health in all your endeavors . Sincerely, Bruce D . Benson President of the University of Colorado 2 University of Colorado Colorado Springs FROM THE CHANCELLOR OF UCCS TO THE CLASS OF 2016 December 16, 2016 Dear Graduate, Congratulations on reaching this milestone achievement – the completion of your degree from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs . At the same time you are celebrating your accomplishment, our first graduates are celebrating their own – their 50th graduation anniversary during our golden anniversary commencement . I am extremely proud of the 2016 graduating class . You represent the best of what our student body has dared to dream . Your academic achievements are represented by the high scores on licensure exams, as well as the notable number of you offered jobs without interview as a direct result of your consummate internship work . Your hard work is the best predictor of your future success . I am gratified by the number of first generation college graduates who are sharing this day with family . Many of you also faced challenging decisions and situations that made you all the more determined to reach you college dream . You are an inspiration to me and to those celebrating in your success today . Your UCCS degree will only increase in value across your lifetime . Welcome to the family of UCCS graduates . I am honored we could be a part of your journey, and I look forward to seeing the spread and influence of Mountain Lion tracks across our city, state, nation, and world . We move forward with excitement about what accomplishments the next 50 years of graduates will achieve . Best of luck to all of you in your future . Sincerely, Pam Shockley-Zalabak Chancellor December 16, 2016 ◆ Commencement 3 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS CHARLES A. GREER Charles Greer is Professor of Neuroscience in the Departments of Neuroscience and Neurosurgery, Vice Chair for Research in Neurosurgery, and Director of Yale University’s Interdepartmental Neuroscience Ph D. Program . He has served as the President of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences, Chair of National Institutes of Health Study Sections and recently completed a term on the Advisory Council for the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders . Throughout his career he has been fortunate to receive very generous support from the National Institutes of Health for his research and the postdoctoral fellows and graduate students working in his lab . Though they have made progress, Greer and his colleagues continue to explore the fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate the initial organization of the nervous system during embryogenesis and its capacity for plasticity in the adult . Professor Greer entered UCCS, then better known as Cragmor, during the fall term of 1966 . At the time, there were only about 500 enrolled students . Most of the faculty were drawn from colleges and universities in the area on a part-time basis and many of the classrooms and hallways still had the medical equipment from Cragmor’s former life as a tuberculosis sanitarium . Like many of his peers, Dr . Greer held a full-time job while taking evening classes . He received his B A. in December, 1971 but stayed on as a teaching assistant in the Department of Psychology, under the leadership of Dr . David Nichols, until he entered graduate school in Boulder in 1973 . He earned his Ph D. in Biopsychology (Neuroscience) and Behavioral Genetics in 1978 . Dr . Greer and his wife, Sandra, moved to Yale where he began postdoctoral studies on the development and organization of sensory systems . Since 1985, Professor Greer has been a UCCS donor, contributing to the David Nichols Scholarship Endowment, which provides support to Psychology majors, and to the Kraemer Family Library . Dr . Greer has organized several national and international conferences and is frequently an invited speaker . He is an Associate Editor of The Journal of Comparative Neurology and Journal of Neuroscience and a member of the editorial boards of Frontiers in Neurogenomics, Frontiers in Neuroanatomy and Frontiers in Neuorgenesis and the Faculty of 1000 . Last month, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . Dr . Greer has been the recipient of numerous awards recognizing his research accomplishments . Welcome to the Alumni & Friends Association! Welcome to the Alumni & Friends Association! x Celebrate the memories that will last a lifetime and receive a special message ffrom alumni who have gone before you. x Congratulations! And don’t forget: you’ll always be a Mountain Lion. Celebrate the memories that will last a lifetime and receive a special message from alumni who have gone before you at alumni.uccs.edu www.uccs.edu/alumni 4 University of Colorado Colorado Springs UNIVERSITY MEDAL MICHAEL D. FRYT Mike Fryt approaches life as if it's a Colorado Fourteener . The Manitou Springs native earned a bachelor's degree in accounting magna cum laude from UCCS in 1977 and a law degree from CU Boulder before launching a successful career with some of the world’s largest and most prestigious companies . Before his 2014 retirement, he served as FedEx's corporate vice president of tax where he was responsible for the global tax affairs for the Memphis, Tennessee-based company .