More than 1,500 degrees will be awarded in ceremonies Dec. 16–18
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Written by: Office of Strategic Communication

The University of Iowa will honor December 2016 graduates during a series of commencement ceremonies and other events Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Dec. 16–18.

Fall undergraduate degree applicants include 790 from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (47 of whom are students receiving their elementary or secondary education program completion certificate through the College of Education), 182 from the Henry B. Tippie College of Business, and 123 from the College of Engineering.

Professional and graduate students include 254 from the Graduate College, 10 from the College of Law, 129 from the College of Nursing, 37 from the University College, and 58 MBA recipients from the Tippie College of Business.

Live video streams of ceremonies:

Events include:

College of Education Teacher Education Convocation

3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge

Mitch Kelly, clinical associate professor in the college, will be the faculty speaker. Graduate Angela Marie Miller of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who will be receiving her degree in English education, will be the student speaker. The keynote speaker will be Deb Hazelton Wretman, retired principal of South East Junior High in Iowa City.

Graduate College Commencement

7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, Hancher Auditorium

John Keller, dean of the Graduate College and associate provost for graduate and professional education, will offer an introduction and an address. Keller will be joined by UI President Bruce Harreld in conferring degrees. Harreld also will give closing remarks.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and University College Commencement

9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Lon Moeller, associate provost for undergraduate education and dean of the University College, will lead the ceremonies. Degrees will be conferred by P. Barry Butler, executive vice president and provost, and Joseph Kearney, associate dean for research and infrastructure and the arts. Graduate Matthew Hazen will be the student speaker. Graduate Taylor Mayne will be the student singer.

College of Nursing Commencement

9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, Hancher Auditorium

Interim College of Nursing Dean Thad Wilson will lead the ceremonies, and UI President Bruce Harreld will confer degrees. Graduates Michael DeMoss and Emily Vesely will speak.

Henry B. Tippie College of Business Commencement

1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, Hancher Auditorium

Wenxin Ding will be the student speaker, and the guest speaker will be Patricia Miller (BA and BBA ’04), CEO and president of Matrix 4, Inc., a design and manufacturing house in Chicago.

Henry B. Tippie College of Business MBA Commencement

5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, Hancher Auditorium

The featured speaker will be Jeffrey D. Lorenger (BBA ’87/JD ’91/MBA ’01), president of the Contract Furniture Group and executive vice president of HNI Corp., an office furniture–manufacturing company in Muscatine, Iowa.

College of Engineering Commencement

Noon, Sunday, Dec. 18, Hancher Auditorium

The featured speaker will be Mona Garvin, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and a researcher at the UI Institute for Biomedical Imaging. Garvin (BS ’03/BSE ’03/MS ’04/PhD ’08), is the 2013 recipient of the College of Engineering’s Teaching Award. Her major area of research interest is ophthalmic image analysis.

Video coverage

Family and friends unable to attend the December ceremonies have several options for watching graduates participate.

The Graduate College, College of Nursing, Tippie College of Business, Tippie MBA Program, College of Engineering, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and University College ceremonies, and the Teacher Education Convocation, will be streamed live on the web at now.uiowa.edu.

Recordings will also be posted on the university’s YouTube channel the week of Dec. 19.

For friends and relatives of international students, video of the Tippie College of Business commencement ceremony with commentary in Chinese will be available later in the month and can be viewed at the International Programs website. In addition, video of the Graduate College opening remarks will include commentary in Arabic and Farsi. Spanish captions will be added to video of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences ceremony, and the ceremony’s opening remarks will include commentary in Korean.

Ceremonies at Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be broadcast live for area audiences via UITV (Mediacom channel 118.5 in the Iowa City area).

Social media

Social media users can join the celebration online by using the hashtag #UIGrad16 with UI graduation–related posts. Top posts will be shared after commencement weekend.

More information

Find complete information for graduates and guests on the Office of the Registrar website. Commencement events are open to the public, but traffic near facilities—particularly Carver-Hawkeye Arena and Hancher Auditorium—may be heavy.

—Doors at Carver-Hawkeye Arena open an hour before start time, and guests should use the south and west entrances to enter the arena.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena guests with disabilities or limited mobility can park in Lot 46 adjacent to the arena, provided they have state-issued disabled parking permits. Guests with limited mobility can access the Feller Club Room with up to two companions or view the ceremony from the upper concourse level.

—Doors at Hancher Auditorium open an hour before start time, with the exception of the College of Engineering ceremony on Sunday. Doors on Sunday will open at 9:30 a.m. for the 11 a.m. ceremony.

Hancher Auditorium guests with disabilities or limited mobility can park in the lot adjacent to the venue on the west side and overflow lots will be southwest of the auditorium in Lot 55, provided they have state-issued disabled parking permits. Visit www.hancher.uiowa.edu/road-construction to view the location of these lots. Guests with limited mobility can enter Hancher through either of the two west entrances. Guests needing seating accommodations should contact Hancher directly at 319-335-1158.

Hancher guests should note significant construction on Dubuque Street and Park Road that could delay travel, especially at peak times. Delays of at least 15 to 30 minutes are possible, and travelers should plan accordingly.

For the media

Photo/video guidelines for the IMU: No flashes or lights can be used inside the IMU, and no cords or cables can lie on the floor. Please bring your batteries and be prepared to shoot from the shoulder. Photographers can shoot from the back of the room. Please be in position before the start of the processional.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena commencement: Doors open one hour before each ceremony. Photographers and news media are permitted on the arena floor until 15 minutes before ceremonies begin, at which point they must return to the designated media area. Media and visitors on the arena concourse are asked to keep noise to a minimum while the ceremony is in progress. Interviews should be conducted outside the arena. Clean audio is available through the arena system.

Hancher Auditorium commencements: Doors open one hour before each ceremony. Media and visitors are asked to keep noise to a minimum while the ceremony is in progress. Interviews should be conducted outside the performance hall area.