SPRING COMMENCEMENT 2021 CELEBRATING THE GRADUATING CLASS To the Class of 2021, Congratulations on your graduation from Ohio University! You are one of the fortunate who has received the nation’s highest return on experience. You are now and forever, OHIO. The Class of 2021 has faced numerous challenges, as the COVID-19 global pandemic transformed all of our lives. I want to thank you for boldly adapting to historic changes and continuing to learn together, work together and support one another. You have shown great perseverance, strength, and spirit, and I am very proud of you. Your time at Ohio University prepared you for your future, and now you and your classmates are beginning your careers, advancing in new academic programs, or taking on other challenges. I want you to know, though, that your transformation is not yet complete. For a true education does not end with a diploma; it continues throughout every day of your life. I encourage you to take the lessons you have learned at Ohio University and expand upon them in the years to come. As you have already learned, the OHIO alumni network is a vast enterprise—accomplished in their respectable professions, loyal to their alma mater, and always willing to help a fellow Bobcat land that next job or find an apartment/realtor in a new city. I urge you to seek out your nearest alumni chapter or a special interest society of alumni and friends, to reach out through social media (#ohioalumni), and to stay connected to Ohio University. Each Ohio University graduate adds a new chapter in a 217-year tradition of academic excellence, and we are thankful for all that you have contributed to our cherished University community. We wish you the very best and look forward to the many distinguished successes that lie ahead of you in the years to come, as your individual talents and knowledge help to make our world a better place. Best wishes, M. Duane Nellis, Ph.D. President COMMENCEMENT Exercise COMMENCEMENT Exercise APRIL 30, 2021, 9:00 A.M. MAY 1, 2021, 9:00 A.M. Presiding Officer M Duane Nellis, Ph D Presiding Officer M Duane Nellis, Ph D President President Processional Processional Convening the 2021 Commencement Matthew Evans Convening the 2021 Commencement Janelle Coleman Member, Ohio University Board of Trustees Chair, Ohio University Board of Trustees The National Anthem The National Anthem Welcome President Nellis Welcome President Nellis Commencement Address Susan Williams Ph D Commencement Address Leanne Ford, B S S ’03 Professor of Anatomy, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Internationally renowned interior designer and HGTV personality Presentation of Graduates Presented by Elizabeth Sayrs, Ph D Presentation of Graduates Presented by Elizabeth Sayrs, Ph D Executive Vice President and Provost Executive Vice President and Provost Conferral of Degrees Conferral of Degrees Doctoral Degrees College of Business Master’s Degrees Scripps College of Communication Adjournment of the 2021 Commencement Trustee Evans Adjournment of the 2021 Commencement Chair Coleman Recessional Recessional COMMENCEMENT Exercise COMMENCEMENT Exercise MAY 1, 2021, 4:00 P.M. MAY 2, 2021, 2:00 P.M. Presiding Officer M Duane Nellis, Ph D Presiding Officer M Duane Nellis, Ph D President President Processional Processional Convening the 2021 Commencement Janelle Coleman Convening the 2021 Commencement Matthew Evans Chair, Ohio University Board of Trustees Member, Ohio University Board of Trustees The National Anthem The National Anthem Welcome President Nellis Welcome President Nellis Commencement Address Leanne Ford, B S S ’03 Commencement Address Leanne Ford, B S S ’03 Internationally renowned interior designer and HGTV personality Internationally renowned interior designer and HGTV personality Presentation of Graduates Presented by Elizabeth Sayrs, Ph D Presentation of Graduates Presented by Elizabeth Sayrs, Ph D Executive Vice President and Provost Executive Vice President and Provost Conferral of Degrees Conferral of Degrees College of Arts and Sciences College of Fine Arts Gladys W and David H Patton College of Education Honors Tutorial College Fritz J and Dolores H Russ College of Engineering and Technology Center for International Studies University College College of Health Sciences and Professions Adjournment of the 2021 Commencement Chair Coleman Adjournment of the 2021 Commencement Trustee Evans Recessional Recessional ACADEMIC Heraldry THE SEAL of Office The caps, gowns, and hoods worn today in these Commencement Exercises are patterned Worn by the president at official Ohio University functions, the Seal of Office also was after the attire of monks and students in the Middle Ages. Those who have earned designed by the late Professor Klahn. Fabricated of silver and bronze, the primary medallion bachelor’s degrees wear gowns with a semi-stiff yoke, long pleated front, intricate shirring features a silhouette of Cutler Hall, the date of Ohio University’s founding (1804), and the across the shoulders and back, and long, pointed sleeves. The holder of a master’s degree words, “Ohio’s First University.” The secondary medallion, at the back of the chain, is the wears a similar gown, with long or short oblong sleeves that hang down in the traditional University seal. Smaller medallions, replicas of the two center portions of the University manner and open at the wrist. seal, are interspersed alternately with the chain’s links. The Seal of Office was created for Those possessing the doctoral degree wear gowns with broad velvet panels down the front the inauguration of President Emeritus Robert Glidden in 1994 and will be passed on to and three velvet bars on the full, round, open sleeves. This velvet trimming may be either future presidents of Ohio University. black or the color of the distinctive field of learning represented by the degree. Most of the color and meaning of the costume is found in the hoods. These are silk-lined with the color or colors of the institution conferring the degree. As can readily be observed, the official colors of Ohio University are green and white. The border of the hood is velvet and its color Cords signifies the field of learning to which the degree pertains: HONOR Accountancy Drab Humanities White Undergraduates who are graduating with honors are wearing honor cords. Those who are Anthropology Gold Journalism Crimson graduating with honor, or cum laude (accumulative grade point average of 3.5 to 3.749), are wearing bronze cords; those graduating with high honor, or magna cum laude (3.75 to Arts White Literature White 3.899), are wearing silver cords; and those graduating with highest honor, or summa cum Auditory Blue Medicine Hunter Green laude (3.9 to 4.0), are wearing gold cords. Biochemistry Gold Music Pink Students who graduate with honor must have completed 30 semester hours of Business Drab Nursing Apricot coursework with letter grades in residence at Ohio University and must be completing Civil Engineering Orange Philosophy Ph D Blue a bachelor’s degree. Graduation with honor does not apply to recipients of associate’s or graduate degrees. Communication Sciences Maroon Silver Physical Education Sage Green Counseling and Guidance Light Blue Physical Therapy Teal A special notation appears on the diploma and in the Commencement program for students who are graduating with honors. Education Light Blue Public Administration Peacock Blue Engineering Orange Public Health Salmon English White Physics Gold Fine Arts Brown Science Gold History White Social Work Citron Human and Consumer Sciences Maroon GRADUATE Speaker UNDERGRADUATE Speaker SUSAN WILLIAMS LEANNE FORD Susan Williams, Ph.D., is a professor of anatomy in Ohio University’s Heritage College Leanne Ford is an American interior designer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a 2003 of Osteopathic Medicine and the recipient of the 2020 Outstanding Graduate Faculty Ohio University graduate. Ford, who earned a bachelor’s degree in specialized studies, gained Award. Established in 1972, the Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award recognizes an OHIO national attention for the 1907 schoolhouse turned home that she restored and designed in professor who has demonstrated exemplary performance as an instructor, researcher, and her hometown. It was this first personal project where she established the “white on white” faculty member. signature aesthetic she’s now known for. Featured in Country Living magazine, the house launched her career as an `interior designer, leading to projects in Pennsylvania, New York, Dr. Williams’ research studies sensorimotor integration in the oral cavity and the and Los Angeles, each a reflection of her modern yet lived-in aesthetic. physiology and biomechanics of chewing and swallowing. She has received numerous honors for her work including the 2013 Distinguished Osteopathic Commitment Teaching Ford’s easy vibe and personal style match the stylish yet approachable spaces she creates Awards for both Outstanding Basic Science Faculty and Outstanding Research Mentor, and and curates. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Country Living, Domino, the 2009 Dean’s Standard of Excellence Award. Dr. Williams earned her Ph.D. in Biological GQ, Lonny, Elle Decor, Martha Stewart, Better Homes and Gardens, Redbook, MyDomaine, Anthropology and Anatomy from Duke University and her B.A. in Anthropology and Refinery 29, the New York Times, and more. In addition, her bathroom design has been Spanish from Bryn Mawr College. featured on the cover of Bright Bazaar’s latest interiors book,