Overview

On Saturday, May 17, 2008, the CGU community will join together to celebrate the achievements of the class of 2008.  CGU’s 81st commencement will be held at Mudd Quadrangle, located north of Honnold-Mudd Library at the southeast corner of Tenth Street and Dartmouth Avenue.

Each graduating candidate is recognized by name and will walk across the stage to shake hands with the provost, the president, and the chairperson of the board of trustees.  Doctoral and MFA candidates (CGU's terminal degrees) will be hooded on stage.  Immediately following the ceremony, receptions will be held at each school.   Click here for reception information.

Honorary Degree Recipients and Speakers

Richard A. Tapia (Honorary Degree and Commencement Speaker)   

Richard Tapia is currently University Professor, Maxfield-Oshman Professor in Engineering, Associate Director of Graduate Studies, and Director of the Center for Excellence and Equity in Education, all at Rice University in Houston.  A leader in education and outreach programs, he is internationally known for his work in computational and mathematical sciences, and nationally known for his efforts in promoting women and underrepresented minority students in the mathematical sciences.  Tapia was born in Los Angeles.  The son of Mexican immigrant parents, he was the first in his family to attend college, receiving his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from UCLA.  Tapia’s efforts have elevated Rice University to national recognition for its educational outreach programs.  Under his leadership, the Rice Computational and Applied Mathematics Department has become a national leader in producing women and underrepresented minority Ph.D. recipients in the mathematical sciences.  See http://www.caam.rice.edu/~rat/ for his many honors, too numerous to even summarize here.

Robert C. Merton (Honorary Degree)

Nobel Laureate Robert C. Merton currently holds the John and Natty McArthur University Professorship at the Harvard Business School.  He received his Ph.D. in economics from MIT 1970 after spending two years studying applied mathematics at Caltech from 1966-1967.  He held a faculty post in finance at MIT’s Sloan School of Management until 1988, before moving to Harvard.  In 1997, he received (with Myron Scholes) the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in the Economic Sciences for his joint work with Scholes and Fisher Black (the so-called “Black-Scholes-Merton” theory of option pricing) that revolutionized the pricing of modern financial instruments referred to as “derivative securities.”  For additional information:  http://drfd.hbs.edu/fit/public/facultyInfo.do?facInfo=bio&facEmId=rmerton

Sheila E. Widnall (Honorary Degree)

Sheila E. Widnall received her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate in aeronautics from MIT, and is internationally known for her work in fluid dynamics, specifically in the areas of aircraft turbulence and spiraling air flows.  Scientifically gifted as a young girl, Widnall went on to achieve recognition as a master pilot, astrophysicist, aeronautical genius, lauded educator, and prolific writer.  During 30 years of teaching at MIT, she became the first woman to chair a department at MIT.  In 1993, she took leave from MIT to become United State Secretary of the Air Force and the first woman to lead an entire branch of the US military.  Some of Widnall’s other remarkable leadership roles included co-chairing the Department of Defense Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Discrimination, serving as Associate Provost of MIT, and Director of the Aerospace Corporation and Draper Laboratory.  One of her numerous honors, bestowed after resuming her career at MIT in 1998, received the Living Legacy Award from the Women’s International Center.   For additional information:  http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/www/people/widnall/bio.html 

Student Speaker

Terry Crandall

This year’s student speaker will be Terry Crandall, MA, Economics, 2008

Alumi Award Recipients

Distinguished Alumni Service Award Recipient
Deepak Shimkhada, Ph.D., Education, 2001

Deepak Shimkhada is a loyal alumnus and dedicated member of the Board of Visitors of the School of Religion at CGU, where he also serves as Adjunct Professor. As Chair of the School’s Foundation for Indic Philosophy and Culture, he has been instrumental in leading efforts to support the Foundation and Indic Studies at CGU. Shimkhada served as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College for seven years and was the first person of South Asian descent to be elected President of Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast. He has edited three books and received numerous fellowships and grants. Shimkhada has been listed in Who’s Who in California, Marquis’ Who’s Who, and ABI’s International Authors and Writers Who’s Who. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from University of Baroda, India and his Master of Arts in Art and History from USC. He earned his Ph.D. in Education at CGU in 2001.   

Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient
Earl H. Maize, M.A., Mathematics, 1977; Ph.D., Mathematics, 1981

Earl H. Maize has worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the last 25 years. He currently serves as Manager for the Guidance, Navigation, and Control Section of JPL. Previously, he spent 12 years as Deputy Program Manager and Manager for Spacecraft Operations for the Cassini Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan.  He was also Deputy Orbiter Engineering Team Chief and Maneuver Group Lead of NASA’s Galileo mission to Jupiter. Maize has been honored with three NASA medals for exceptional service and achievement. A dedicated alumnus, Maize is a founding member of the Board of Visitors of the School of Mathematical Sciences at CGU and a long-time supporter and strong advocate of the School. Maize earned his B.A. in Mathematics at Pomona College and his M.A. (1977) and Ph.D. (1981) in Mathematics at Claremont Graduate University.

Commencement Archives
Click here to view the names and speeches of past CGU student speakers. 

Schedule of Events 

Featuring 

• Robert C. Merton, Nobel Laureate and the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at the Harvard Business School, speaking on “From Stochastic Integrals to Integrated Finance:  Observations on the Contribution of Mathematics to Finance Science and Practice”
• Alpan Raval,  Associate Professor of Mathematics and Computational Biology, CGU School of Mathematical Sciences and Keck Graduate Institute, speaking on “Mathematics and the Molecular Basis of Life”
• Richard Tapia, University Professor, Maxfield and Oshman Professorship in Engineering, Rice University, speaking on “Mathematicians:  Gatekeepers of Quality or Promoters of Underrepresentation"

 Program

Mathematics has seen outstanding problems solved in the past 100 years, and there have been significant advances in diverse application areas: medicine (e.g. CAT Scans and MRI), data processing (e.g. secure Internet transactions), computing (search engines such as Google), flight and space exploration, genetics and genomic medicine, and financial markets, to name just a few.  Yet if one were to calculate the cost of mathematical research over the past 100 years, it would be a small fraction of what the world has gained as a result.  While much of the mathematics used in these advances was conceived over 75 years ago, the challenges facing us in the future require new approaches and inventions, as well as sustained efforts to improve mathematics and science education and increase the number of new students entering the mathematical sciences.  To focus on these challenges, the Claremont Consortium has founded a new Claremont Center for the Mathematical Sciences (http://ccms.claremont.edu).

 
In this forum, distinguished guest speakers will help us celebrate the incredible contributions of mathematics by offering their perspectives on how higher mathematics has influenced their work and society as a whole.

Click here for additional speaker details.

2008 Baccalaureate Ceremony

Friday, May 16
3:30 pm
 
The Chaplains of the Interfaith Chaplaincy of The Claremont Colleges are pleased to announce that the Baccalaureate speaker is: Jerry Fowler, J.D., President - Save Darfur Coalition
 
Location: The Interfaith Baccalaureate Ceremony will be held  in Bridges Hall of Music (Little Bridges), 150 E. 4th Street, Pomona College.

Please note the change of location from previous years.

Graduate Student Reception

Friday, May 16, 2008
5-6 p.m.

This reception is intended for all CGU graduates and their families.

Location: CGU Art Building, 251 East Tenth Street, NW corner of Tenth and Columbia.
Contact:  Donna Standlea, Office of the President, Donna.Standlea@cgu.edu, (909) 607-3305.  

Art Exhibition

Friday, May 16, 2008
5-9 p.m.

Check back for details. 

Location: East and Peggy Phelps Galleries, CGU Art Building, 251 E. 10th St., Claremont, CA 91711
Contact: Marianne Elder, Art Department, School of Arts & Humanties, Marianne.Elder@cgu.edu, (909) 621-8071

 
Commencement Exercises

Saturday, May 17, 2008
10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

The 81st commencement exercises for Claremont Graduate University  will be held in Mudd Quadrangle.  President Robert Klitgaard will preside over the ceremony.  Parking is available in designated areas around campus.  Plan to arrive early.

Location: Mudd Quadrangle, between Dartmouth and Columbia on 10th St.
Contact:  Donna Standlea, Office of the President, Donna.Standlea@cgu.edu, (909) 607-3305.

School Receptions

Saturday, May 17, 2008
12:30 p.m. 

Members of the class of 2008 and their families are invited to attend a reception for the graduate's school.  Click here to view receptions listed by locations school. 

  Future Commencement Dates

• Saturday, May 16, 2009
• Saturday, May 15, 2010
• Saturday, May 14, 2011

 Additional / Contact Information
 

Need additional information?  Please contact one of the following:

Reception and Ceremony - Donna Standlea, Donna.Standlea@cgu.edu,  (909) 607-3305

Degree Requirements - Edris Stuebner, Edris.Stuebner@cgu.edu, (909) 607-3370

Facilities - Patricia Stodola, Patricia.Stodola@cgu.edu,  (909) 607-7765

Back to Commencement

Rev'd:  5/5/08