K-State to celebrate commencement May 5 in Salina and May 11-12 in Manhattan

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News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu

Thursday, April 26, 2007 K-STATE COMMENCEMENT

K-STATE TO CELEBRATE COMMENCEMENT MAY 5 IN SALINA AND MAY 11-12 IN MANHATTAN

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University is preparing to present degrees to more than 2,600 students at commencement ceremonies in Manhattan and Salina. The class of 2007 is the 140th to graduate from K-State since the first class graduated in 1867.

Commencement for K-State at Salina will be Saturday, May 5, at the Kansas Highway Patrol Training Center Administration Building J, 2025 East Iron Ave., Salina.

Ceremonies in Manhattan Friday, May 11, will be at 1 p.m. in Bramlage Coliseum for the Graduate School, and at 3:30 p.m. in McCain Auditorium for the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Ceremonies, all in Manhattan, Saturday, May 12, will be:

* College of Arts and Sciences, 8:30 a.m., Bramlage Coliseum.
* College of Architecture, Planning and Design, 10 a.m., McCain Auditorium.
* College of Education, 11 a.m., Bramlage Coliseum.
* College of Business Administration, 12:30 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum.
* College of Agriculture, 2:15 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum.
* College of Human Ecology, 4:15 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum.
* College of Engineering, 6:15 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum.

To be presented include more than 2,230 bachelor's degrees; nearly 290 master's degrees and 170 doctorates; and more than 70 associate degrees. Nearly 140 students will receive multiple degrees, while 66 students are earning their degrees through a K-State distance education program.

Videotapes of the ceremonies may be ordered through the K-State Student Union Bookstore, 1-800-KSU-CATS or 785-532-6583. Tapes must be paid for at the time of purchase. For distance education students unable to attend their on-campus ceremony, a virtual commencement ceremony is available at http://www.dce.k-state.edu/students/commencement/

Commencement speakers, by college, include:

* Barry Flinchbaugh, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at K-State, for the College of Agriculture. Flinchbaugh is an expert on farm policy, farm economy, development and exporting. He has lectured throughout the nation on public policy topics and political economy and helped draft the 1996 Freedom to Farm law.

* Ted Spaid for the College of Architecture, Planning and Design. A principal and co-founder of SWT Design, St. Louis, Mo. Spaid is known across the country for his practical knowledge of park planning, landscape design, horticulture, environmental design, sustainable practices and landscape maintenance procedures. He graduated with honors from K-State in 1984, earning a bachelor's in landscape architecture.

* Nelson Galle for the College of Arts and Sciences. Galle, Manhattan, is chair of the Kansas Board of Regents, to which he was appointed in 2003. Born in Newton and raised near Moundridge, he is a 1958 K-State graduate with a bachelor's degree in agricultural education and a 1964 K-State master's graduate in adult and occupational education.

* Roger McHaney, K-State professor of management and Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars, for the College of Business Administration. McHaney's research interests include discrete event simulation, meta models and computer-mediated communication systems. He teaches in the areas of management of information systems, information resources management and systems analysis.

* Matthew Christensen for the College of Education. Christensen teaches United States history at Blue Valley Northwest High School, Overland Park, where he was named Teacher of the Year in 2004. He graduated from Blue Valley High School, Stilwell, in 1994, and has since been a consultant in the area of learning disabilities and the use of self-advocacy. He earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education from K-State.

* Elizabeth A. Unger for the College of Engineering. Unger is K-State's vice provost of academic services and technology and dean of continuing education. At K-State, Unger has overseen the creation of more than 40 high-tech classrooms, developed K-State Online, visited China and Afghanistan for K-State distance education and created the Information Technology Assistance Center. Her research specialties focus on security and integrity of data systems, database systems and knowledge systems, and distributed systems/office automation/concurrency.

* Leonard K. Peters for the Graduate School. Peters is vice president of Battelle, Columbus, Ohio, where he focuses on on leveraging the company's efforts in science and math education and defining Battelle's partnerships with universities in the area of high-speed, broadband-width networking for research and education. Peters also has had a distinguished career as a researcher in atmospheric chemistry.

* Virginia Moxley, dean of the College of Human Ecology, for the college. Moxley, Council Grove, was named dean in December 2006 after serving as interim dean since January of that year. She had previously been the college's senior associate dean for scholarship and research. She frequently speaks on interinstitutional academic alliances and is a founding member of the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance.

* Wyatt Thompson for K-State at Salina. Thompson, the "Voice of the Wildcats," is the main anchor and play-by-play announcer of the Kansas State Sports Network. Thompson also serves as host of the "Ron Prince Show" on television and joins Prince, K-State's head football coach, on a weekly radio call-in show on the K-State Sports Network.

* Bonnie Rush, professor and interim head of the department of clinical sciences, for the College of Veterinary Medicine. Rush's research focuses on equine respiratory disease with emphasis on respiratory physiology, immunology and aerosol drug therapy. She received the Pfizer Award for Research Excellence in 2002 and the Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teaching Award in 1996 and 2003.