Gov. Beebe Leads List of Speakers at Spring Commencement Ceremonies

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe and nationally known sculptor Anita Huffington will both address the graduate students attending the All-University Commencement, along with their families, friends and members of the U of A faculty. The ceremony will be begin at 8:45 a.m. Saturday, May 10, in Bud Walton Arena.

Gov. Beebe, who is finishing a distinguished 32-year career in state government – as a state senator for 20 years, attorney general for four years, and governor for eight years – will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Huffington, who moved from New York City to Winslow in 1977 and has made Northwest Arkansas her artistic and spiritual home, will receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

The All-University Commencement will be streamed live at https://new.livestream.com/uark/events/2910814.

Each of the university’s colleges and the Fay Jones School of Architecture will also have individual ceremonies on Saturday, May 10.

Sam M. Walton College of Business

12:30 p.m. Barnhill Arena

Donna Cochran McLarty will deliver the commencement address. She is a co-founder, board co-chair emeritus and member of the Executive Committee of Vital Voices Global Partnership, a non-governmental organization whose mission is to identify, invest in and bring visibility to extraordinary women around the world.

McLarty earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Sam M. Walton College of Business. She is a member of the U of A Board of Advisors. She, her husband, Thomas F. McLarty III, and their family created the McLarty Global Fellowship program.

McLarty is known in Arkansas and worldwide as an advocate for women, children and families and as a champion of international education, cultural diplomacy and interfaith dialogue.

J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences

I p.m. Bud Walton Arena

Fulbright College continues its tradition of choosing an outstanding student as commencement speaker. Curry Kennedy of Celina, Texas, is a four-year honor student seeking a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in history.

He has been active in University Theatre productions, served as the president of Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society and has worked as a teacher, tutor and recruiter for the Ozark Literacy Council. He also worked as an intern with Community Service at the University Baptist Church.

Among the honors he has received was a Fulbright Honors College Sturgis Study Abroad Grant, which allowed him to study drama and literature in London. After graduation, Curry plans to pursue graduate studies in English literature.

This ceremony will be steamed live at https://new.livestream.com/uark/events/2910814.

Fay Jones School of Architecture

1 p.m. Verizon Ballroom, Arkansas Student Union

Commencement speaker Robert A. Ivy currently serves as chief executive officer of the American Institute of Architects. In this role he began a partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative to make design a catalyst for improving public health through research grants, digital programs, and community planning. He also launched an effort to update the role of the institute in light of the social, economic and creative challenges facing the architecture profession, focusing on the central role architecture plays in our everyday lives.

He is also author of Fay Jones: Architect, which has been cited for the “highest standards of scholarship, design, and production.”

College of Engineering

3:30 p.m. Barnhill Arena

Patricia Hoffman, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy, will be one of two commencement speakers. Hoffman is with the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability and leads the Energy Department’s efforts to modernize the electrical grid, making it more reliable and resilient.

She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in ceramic science and engineering from Penn State University.

Lindsay Hoggat, Outstanding Senior for the college will also speak. She is a member of a design team investigating a viable method for extinguishing underground coal fires across the world, and more particularly in China. This design project is also the subject of her Honors thesis. Upon graduation, she will begin full-time employment with Eastman Chemical Co. in Kingsport, Tennessee.

College of Education and Health Professions

4 p.m. Bud Walton Arena

Melody Musgrove, director of the Office of Special Education Programs for the U. S. Department of Education, is this year’s commencement speaker. She worked as a classroom teacher, school administrator, district special education director, assistant superintendent and director of special education for the Mississippi Department of Education. She was picked by the White House for her current position, and since August 2010 has been responsible for providing leadership to the early intervention and educational agencies serving the nation’s 6.7 million people under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

This ceremony will be streamed live at https://new.livestream.com/uark/events/2910814.

Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

6:30 p.m. Barnhill Arena

Commencement speaker Bernie Murphy is recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Award for Bumpers College. He is president of Jones-Hamilton Co., an employee-owned chemical business in Walbridge, Ohio, with markets in food, pet food, poultry, steel, water treatment, oil and gas. Much of his career has been related to the poultry industry, managing businesses related to nutrition, primary genetics, processing, food safety and environmental quality.

Murphy worked with students this year as the Bumpers College’s first Executive in Residence.

Murphy was a charter member of the U of A Poultry Science Alumni Group. His interest in promoting opportunities in the poultry industry and establishing a network for students led him to develop travel grants for students to attend annual poultry science professional meetings.

School of Law -- Saturday, May 17

2 p.m. Fayetteville Town Center

Commencement speaker Lewis E. Epley Jr. has combined law, banking, business and public service over a more than 50-year career. He has served on a number of education, banking, business, non-profit and corporate boards, including a 10-year term on the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, with two years as chairman. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and the School of Law, with degrees in public administration and law. He also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the university in 2011.

For more than a decade, Epley has presented his Polio Program to area Rotary Club and Conference meetings, where he tells his personal polio story and encourages Rotarians to continue supporting the fight to eradicate polio throughout the world.