From a School of Medicine student who plans to pursue emergency medicine and work with others to improve health-care access for the neediest patients, to an Arts & Sciences undergraduate who started two successful companies before her senior year, the Class of 2015 at Washington University in St. Louis is talented, inspiring and committed.
And is ready to graduate!
Today, surrounded by more than 12,000 family, friends, faculty, staff, administrators and university trustees, the Class of 2015 will enter Brookings Quadrangle on the Danforth Campus at 8:30 a.m. as degree candidates and leave as graduates after Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton confers their degrees.
The 2,825 candidates at WashU’s 154th Commencement will receive 2,974 degrees, of which 1,444 are undergraduate and 1,530 are graduate and professional.
There are 537 doctoral candidates, comprising 111 for the doctor of philosophy degree from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences; one for the doctor of liberal arts from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences; 218 for the juris doctoris degree from the School of Law; two for the juris scientiae doctoris degree from the School of Law; and 205 for degrees from the School of Medicine.
Some of the graduating students have been showcased through stories, images and videos throughout the year. Visit 2015 Class Acts to see a sampling of our undergraduate, graduate and professional students who are changing the world through research, service and innovation.
Commencement will take place in the Quad rain or shine. However, if threatening weather endangers safety, the severe weather plan would be activated by 7 a.m.
Under the plan, the all-university Commencement ceremony in Brookings Quadrangle would be canceled. A ceremony for undergraduates only would be held starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Athletics Complex.
For graduate and professional degree candidates, graduation ceremonies would be held at their schools’ regularly scheduled Commencement receptions and recognition ceremonies in the afternoon.
If the plan is activated, it will be announced on the university’s home page, wustl.edu, in a university-wide email, and by local media.
Streaming video of the ceremony in the Quad will be broadcast online. The webcast also can be viewed in Brown Hall, rooms 100 and 118, and in January Hall, Room 110. All rooms are wheelchair accessible. For building location, visit the Danforth Campus map.
Speaker, honorary degree recipients
Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, who has directed and produced some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, will deliver the Commencement address.
Referred to by The New York Times as “the most accomplished documentary filmmaker of his generation,” Burns will receive an honorary doctor of humanities degree from the university.
During his more than 35 years of making films, Burns has explored such compelling topics in American history as the Civil War, the Dust Bowl, Prohibition and World War II.
For more on Burns, visit the Washington University Newsroom.
Honorary degrees will also be awarded to:
- Mary-Dell Chilton, PhD, a distinguished science fellow at Syngenta Biotechnology Inc., a key founder of modern plant biotechnology and a recent inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, doctor of science;
- Gerald D. Fischbach, MD, an internationally renowned neuroscientist and chief scientist and fellow of the Simons Foundation, doctor of science;
- Herbie Hancock, an icon of modern music who has had an illustrious career spanning five decades, doctor of humane letters; and
- Susan Talve, the founding rabbi of Central Reform Congregation, the only Jewish congregation located in the city of St. Louis, and named one of the nation’s most inspirational rabbis in 2014, doctor of humane letters.
Commencement will begin with the traditional academic procession into the Quad, which will be led by grand marshal Robert E. Wiltenburg, PhD, dean of University College in Arts & Sciences.
Wiltenburg, who has chaired the Commencement Committee and served as Commencement’s grand marshal since 2008, is stepping down from these roles after this year. In December, Wiltenburg announced that he is stepping down as University College dean at the end of the academic year.
Ronald Evens, honorary grand marshal
Also leading the procession into the Quad will be the honorary grand marshal, Ronald G. Evens, MD, professor of radiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at the School of Medicine.
Referred to by Chancellor Emeritus William H. Danforth as a “whiz kid from the start,” Evens has a lengthy record of providing outstanding leadership at the university.
A native of Herculaneum, Mo., Evens earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in Arts & Sciences from Washington University in 1961. Three years later, he graduated from the School of Medicine at the top of his class.
He completed his post-graduate training in St. Louis and Bethesda, Md. Following his residency, he was awarded a Picker Fellowship from the National Academy of Sciences, which allowed him to do graduate study in business administration and in education at the university.
In 1971, one year after he finished his nuclear medicine residency, Evens, 31 at the time, was named director of the Mallinckrodt Institute.
By the 1980s, Evens had expanded Mallinckrodt into one of the five largest radiology institutes in the world, transforming it from a regional leader into a world-renowned center for state-of-the-art treatment, training and research. He recruited the institute’s first minority and female faculty and expanded the enrollment of female and minority students.
During his 28 years as director of Mallinckrodt, he also served terms as university vice chancellor for finance and administration and president of St. Louis Children’s Hospital. In 1999, he became president of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a position he held until 2005. He also served as interim president of the Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College.
Traditions continue
Approximately 100 alumni from the Class of 1965, celebrating their 50th reunion, will march in the opening procession.
For the 35th consecutive Commencement, the program will begin with music by The Mighty Mississippi Concert Band of St. Louis, under the direction of Dan Presgrave, retired music director/conductor of the Washington University Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble.
Benjamin J. Kweskin, a candidate for a bachelor of arts with a major in political science and minors in music and legal studies, all in the College of Arts & Sciences, will sing “America the Beautiful” to open the ceremony.
Anthony D. Tomassini, a candidate for a master of music (in vocal performance) from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, will conclude the ceremony by singing the “Alma Mater.”
Jeremy Sherman, president of the senior class, will deliver the student Commencement greeting. Sherman, from West Bloomfield, Mich., is a candidate for a bachelor of science in business administration degree from the Olin Business School with a second major in political science from the College of Arts & Sciences.
To read more about Sherman, visit the Commencement website.
The deans of each of the schools and Provost Holden Thorp, PhD, will assist Wrighton in the conferral of academic degrees. After the conferral of degrees, Wrighton will deliver his message to the Class of 2015.
After the ceremony, individual schools will hold recognition and award ceremonies, diploma distribution and receptions. Visit the Commencement website for locations.