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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

CORRECTED VERSION. The speaker for College of Education commencement should be Robert Shannon, superintendent of USD 383.
News release prepared by: Andy Badeker, 785-532-6415, abadeker@k-state.edu

Monday, May 5, 2008

K-STATE COMMENCEMENT
K-STATE TO CELEBRATE COMMENCEMENT MAY 10 IN SALINA AND MAY 16-17 IN MANHATTAN

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University is preparing to present degrees to more than 2,900 students at commencement ceremonies in Manhattan and Salina. The class of 2008 is the 141st to graduate from K-State since the first class graduated in 1867.

Commencement for K-State at Salina will be 10 a.m. Saturday, May 10, at the Kansas Highway Patrol Training Center Administration Building J, 2025 East Iron Ave., Salina.

Ceremonies in Manhattan Friday, May 16, 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 17, 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; and College of Engineering, 6:15 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum.

To be presented include more than 2,280 bachelor's degrees; more than 420 master's degrees and 50 doctorates; and more than 40 associate degrees. Nearly 80 students will receive multiple degrees, while 119 students are earning their degrees through a K-State distance education program.

K-State commencement speakers include a U.S. senator, the host of HGTV's "Color Correction," the president of the Kansas Senate and the president of the Council of Graduate Schools. In addition, a former U.S. poet laureate will be reading some of his work.

Commencement speakers, by college, include:

* U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback for the College of Agriculture. Brownback, Topeka, was student body president at K-State and president of his class at University of Kansas Law School. He was a White House Fellow in the first Bush Administration and was the youngest secretary of agriculture in Kansas history. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994. In 1996, he was elected to Senate seat held by former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole.

* Constance Ramos, designer and host of HGTV's "Color Correction," for the College of Architecture, Planning and Design. Ramos, born in Kansas City, Mo., is an alum of K-State's architecture program. In addition to creating design work for shopping centers, cinemas, resorts, television commercials and theater productions, Ramos has been an actor and a cast member of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

* Kent Glasscock for the College of Arts and Sciences. Glasscock, Manhattan, is president of the National Institute for Strategic Technology Acquisition and Commercialization. He also heads his family's business, Kansas Lumber Homestore. Glasscock received a bachelor's degree in English from K-State. From 1990 to 2003 he represented the state's 62nd District and was the speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives from 2001-2003.

* Dan Deines, professor of accounting, for the College of Business Administration. Deines, the Ralph Crouch KPMG Professor of Accounting at K-State, is dedicated to recruiting students into accounting careers. He has developed and implemented a recruitment program aimed at counteracting negative stereotypes among high school students about the field of accounting.

* Robert Shannon, superintendent for USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden, for the College of Education. Shannon, who earned his doctorate in educational administration from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, has been a school administrator since 1978. He joined the Manhattan-Ogden district in 2005

* Stephen Morris, president of the Kansas Senate, Hugoton, for the College of Engineering. Morris, whose first term in the Senate was 1993, chairs the Interstate Cooperation Committee and the Joint Committee on Legislative Coordination. In addition to the agriculture and ways and means committees, he serves on the state building construction committee. His family farm is in Stevens County.

* Debra W. Stewart for the Graduate School. Stewart has been president of the Council of Graduate Schools since 2000; before that she was vice chancellor and dean of the graduate school at North Carolina State University. Her service to graduate education includes chairing the Graduate Record Examination Board and the Council on Research Policy and Graduate Education.

* Evan Grier, president of the College of Human Ecology alumni board, for the college. Grier, Manhattan, is a 2002 K-State graduate and the owner, with wife Andrea Grier, of Harry's and Howdy's restaurants.

* Bill Meredith, director of the School of Family Studies and Human Services, for K-State at Salina. Meredith is a specialist in issues of family violence, family relationships in Asian cultures, and adolescence. His doctorate in community and human resources is from the University of Nebraska. He joined K-State in 1999.

* Billy Collins, former poet laureate of the United States, will read three poems for the College of Veterinary Medicine, and Dan Thomson, assistant professor of clinical sciences at K-State, will address the graduates. Thomson's research interest is in the interactions between production management, environment and nutrition on the health and performance of beef cattle. He is the Jones Professor of Production Medicine.

Videotapes of the ceremonies may be ordered through the K-State Student Union Bookstore, 1-800-578-2287 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.ksu.edu/commencement/