UC Irvine to honor graduates in 2007 commencement

The University of California, Irvine will award more than 6,500 degrees to the class of 2007 during the campus’s 42nd commencement exercises to be held over three days at the Bren Events Center from June 15-17.

Academic degrees to be awarded include approximately 5,500 bachelor’s degrees, 1,000 master’s degrees and 300 doctorates. In addition, the School of Medicine awarded medical doctorates to 104 students at a June 2 ceremony.

Among those graduating with academic honors is the top 12 percent of undergraduates who will receive Latin honors: 56 summa cum laude, 166 magna cum laude and 444 cum laude.


June 15 Ceremony Schedule

* The Henry Samueli School of Engineering: 9 a.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Dwight C. Streit, Ph.D., vice president of foundation technologies, Northrop Grumman Space Technology. Streit directs development of research and technology required for advanced semiconductors, microelectronics and communications and satellite payload electronics for Northrop Grumman, a $30 billion global defense and technology firm. He has more than 300 published articles to his credit, and more than two dozen patents issued or pending. Streit is a fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Student speaker: Nishkaam Ravindra Mehta, baccalaureate candidate, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

* School of Social Sciences – Ceremony 1: 1 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker/student speaker: Marlen Kanagui, baccalaureate candidate, School of Social Sciences. Kanagui will graduate with a double major in cognitive psychology and sociology and pursue an advanced degree in cognitive psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia this fall. While at UCI, Kanagui was active in organizations that seek to increase educational opportunities for Latinos. Kanagui was recognized this spring with the 2007 Lauds & Laurels for Student Achievement/Outstanding Undergraduate award, the UCI Alumni Association’s highest honor.

* School of Social Sciences – Ceremony 2: 5 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker/student speaker: Marlen Kanagui, baccalaureate candidate, School of Social Sciences. See above.


June 16 Ceremony Schedule

* Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences: 9 a.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: John Seely Brown, Ph.D., former chief scientist of Xerox Corporation and director of Palo Alto Research Center. Known as the “Chief of Confusion,” Brown is a visiting scholar at USC. He expanded the role of corporate research during his 12 years as head of Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center. His current research interests include the impact of globalization on business, managing radical innovation, digital culture, and organizational and individual learning. Brown is a member of the National Academy of Education and an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow. He sits on the boards of many public and privately owned companies and organizations, including Amazon and Brown University.

* School of Social Ecology – Ceremony 1: Noon, Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: David Altman, Ph.D., ’84, executive vice president for research and development, Center for Creative Leadership. Altman manages R&D for the Center for Creative Leadership, widely regarded as one of the top executive education programs worldwide. He secures external research funding and develops and revises educational programs. Before joining CCL in 2003, Altman was a professor of public health and pediatrics at Wake Forest University, and a senior research scientist at Stanford University’s Center for Research and Disease Prevention. Altman received his master’s and doctoral degrees in social ecology at UCI.
Student speaker: Alexander Brian Yu, baccalaureate candidate, School of Social Ecology

* School of Social Ecology – Ceremony 2: 4 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: David Altman, ’84. See above.
Student speaker: Jennifer Kwon, baccalaureate candidate, School of Social Ecology




June 17 Ceremony Schedule

* The Paul Merage School of Business: 9 a.m., Aldrich Park
Featured speaker: James V. Mazzo, president and chief executive officer, Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. Mazzo also is chairman of the board of directors for AMO, a Santa Ana-based global eye vision technology company that markets products to almost 60 countries and employs approximately 4,200 people worldwide. AMO’s technologies help people whose vision is impaired by glaucoma, myopia or cataracts. Before joining AMO in 2002, Mazzo worked for Allergan for more than two decades. He served most recently as Allergan’s corporate vice president. In addition, Mazzo serves as a trustee for the UCI Foundation.

* School of Humanities: 9 a.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Lisbeth Haas, Ph.D., ’85, associate professor of history, UC Santa Cruz. Haas is an expert on the Americas and Africa, and her research focuses on historical memory, theory and methodology, U.S.-Mexico borderlands, Chicano and Native American history, visual culture and the colonial Americas. Hass recently was awarded two research grants for projects titled “Indigenous Histories of Colonial and Mexican California,” and “Across Borders: Transnational Economies and Regional Histories in the Americas.”
Student speaker: Lauren Bloom, baccalaureate candidate, School of Humanities and School of Social Ecology

* Claire Trevor School of the Arts, School of Physical Sciences, Department of Education: 1 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Rueben Martinez, owner and founder, Libreria Martinez Books and Arts, MacArthur Foundation Fellow. Martinez helps generate almost $1 million annually for one of the nation’s largest Spanish-language book distributors. His business started from humble beginnings in Santa Ana; he lent books to customers while he was cutting their hair in his small barber shop. In 2004, Martinez received a $500,000 MacArthur “genius grant” for his efforts to improve literacy and cultural education among Latinos.

* School of Biological Sciences: 5 p.m., Bren Events Center
Featured speaker: Susan V. Bryant, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research and professor of developmental & cell biology, UC Irvine. Bryant leads UC Irvine’s efforts to increase government and private support for research and scholarship, develop the university’s research infrastructure, facilitate technology transfer, oversee compliance with research guidelines and expand funding opportunities available to researchers. Bryant, an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow, joined UCI in 1969 and is a leading scientist in the study of limb regeneration. In addition to her scholarly achievements, Bryant has been recognized for her efforts to bring more women and minorities into the sciences.