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UW-RF Fall Commencement Set for Dec. 18

By Molly Exner
UW-RF News Bureau

DEC. 3, 2004--An expected 276 bachelor's and 32 master's candidates will participate in commencement ceremonies at UW-River Falls on Saturday, Dec. 18.

The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. in the Robert P. Knowles Physical Education and Recreation Center. History Professor Edward Peterson, recipient of the 2004 Distinguished Teacher award, will deliver the commencement address, "Some Things I Have Learned."

Peterson, UW-RF's senior faculty member with 50 years of academic service, has not missed a day of teaching class since his arrival in 1954. Peterson has authored eight historical academic books and is recognized as a pre-eminent scholar on Nazi Germany and the Russian Occupation of East Germany and Poland following World War II. Peterson, who served as chair of the social science and history departments from 1963 to 1991, teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses with an emphasis on 20th Century European history.

Receiving the University's Outstanding Service Award will be community members Steve Healey and Jim Tiedke. The award is the highest honor the University can bestow on a friend of the institution.

Healy, a 1973 alumnus, is the president and CEO of Pierce Pepin Cooperatives Services, Inc., in Ellsworth, Wis. Healy chairs the advisory board for the College of Business and Economics and has previously served two terms on the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences Advisory Council and served as its chair. Healy also plays a pivotal role with the Federated Youth Foundation Board of Directors, which has provided several scholarships to UW-RF students.

Tiedke, a 1981 alumnus, is the director of retail services strategic marketing for Agriliance Cooperative in St. Paul, Minn. Tiedke was awarded for his service on the CAFES Advisory Council and the CAFES Agriculture Alumni Association Board. Tiedke also was instrumental in securing donations for the planned construction of the University’s proposed Dairy Learning Center.

UW-RF graduating senior Haylee Hall will sing at the ceremonies. Hall, a music major from Shell Lake, Wis., will lead students, faculty and guests in the "UW-RF Pledge Song" and the "Star Spangled Banner."

Interim Chancellor Virgil Nylander will confer degrees at the commencement ceremonies. Candidates for degrees will be presented by Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Ginny Coombs; Dean Stephen Ridley of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences; Dean Gorden Hedahl of the College of Arts and Sciences; Dean Barbara Nemecek of the College of Business and Economics; Director Douglas Johnson of Outreach and Graduate Studies; and Dean Connie Foster of the College of Education and Professional Studies.

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Last updated: Monday, 06-Dec-2004 11:56:08 CST