Commencement exercises Friday, Saturday

Nearly 3,500 professional, graduate and undergraduate students are candidates for degrees during spring commencement exercises set for Friday and Saturday, May 11-12.

SIUC's graduation ceremonies are open to the public and tickets are not required.

There are 2,929 candidates for bachelor's degrees, 384 candidates for master's degrees, 39 doctoral degree candidates, 122 candidates for law degrees and 23 candidates for associate degrees.

Minnijean Brown Trickey, a member of the "Little Rock Nine," will receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the College of Education and Human Services. Trickey attended SIUC after the Little Rock desegregation crisis and went on to become a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Clinton years.

She came to SIUC in 1961 intending to major in journalism but wound up in social work when she and her husband, Roy Trickey, moved to Canada after he was denied conscientious objector status for the war in Vietnam.

A lifelong social activist, Trickey's causes include nonviolence, peacemaking, social justice, the environment, diversity, gender equity, cross cultural communication and organizational change.

Nine alumni will receive Alumni Achievement Awards as part of individual college and school ceremonies. The award is the highest honor presented by the SIU Alumni Association.

Here is the commencement schedule, speaker for each college, and Alumni Achievement Award recipients:

Friday, May 11

College of Liberal Arts

5 p.m. — SIU Arena. Nick P. Calamos, senior executive vice president and head of investments for Calamos Asset Management Inc. of Naperville. Calamos will also receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

Saturday May 12

College of Science

8:30 a.m.— Shryock Auditorium. Jorge Seminario, professor and inaugural holder of the Lanatter and Herbert Fox Professorship in Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University. Seminario will also receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

College of Education and Human Services

8:30 a.m. — SIU Arena. Dhyana Ziegler, assistant vice president of instructional technology and academic affairs at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. Ziegler will also receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

College of Agricultural Sciences

11 a.m. — Shryock Auditorium. Karen G. Little, corporate dietitian, Robert's Sysco Food Services Inc. of Lincoln. Little will also receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

College of Applied Sciences and Arts

11 a.m. — SIU Arena. Wayne Machnich, president of Legat Architects in Waukegan. Machnich will also receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

College of Mass Communication and Media Arts

1:30 p.m. — Shryock Auditorium. Paul E. Elledge, owner of Paul Elledge Photography in Chicago, will give the address. Elledge will also receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

College of Engineering

1:30 p.m. — SIU Arena. Daniel G. Korte, vice president of supplier management and procurement of Integrated Defense Systems for the Boeing Co. in St. Louis. Korte will also receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

School of Law

4 p.m. — Shryock Auditorium. James Holderman, chief judge for the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, will give the address. Lena Taylor, a Wisconsin state senator, will receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

College of Business and Administration

4 p.m. — SIU Arena. Susan W. Rashid, chief administrative officer of Element 79 Partners LLC in Chicago. Rashid will also receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

Graduate School

7 p.m. — SIU Arena.