Medals Ceremony recognizes 50 graduating Scholars

12/21/2007
Fifty Schreyer Scholars who will be graduating with honors during Penn State's fall commencement exercises received medals recognizing their academic achievement during the Schreyer Honors College's Medals Ceremony held Friday (December 21) at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.

Penn State President Graham B. Spanier presented the graduating Scholars with the medals. Assisting with the presentation of medals were executive vice president and provost Dr. Rodney Erickson; Dr. Christian M. M. Brady, dean of the Schreyer Honors College; and Dr. Ingrid Blood, chair-elect of the University Faculty Senate and professor of communication sciences and disorders.

In addition to the University Park event, three Schreyer Scholars will be recognized at graduation ceremonies happening at Penn State Behrend, Penn State Abington, and Penn State Berks.

Among the graduating Scholars:

56 percent of the graduating Scholars have a GPA of 3.80 or higher
93 percent have a GPA of 3.50 or higher
Employment opportunities include positions with KPMG in Houston, Texas; Cisco Systems, Inc. in Boulder, Colo.; Citigroup Global Capital Markets in New York City; ConocoPhillips in Houston; and Genentech at Palo Alto, Calif.
Areas of graduate study being pursued starting in fall 2008 include law, medicine, science, fine arts, and religion
8 of the Scholars will be graduating with two majors
1 of the Scholars will graduate with three majors
9 of the Scholars will have participated in the Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate Program, having completed their Bachelor's and Master's degrees simultaneously
38 percent of the fall 2007 graduating class studied abroad in 11 different countries
Immediate plans for several of the new graduates include working abroad—one plans to teach math in an orphanage in Tanzania; another plans to volunteer for at least two months at a school in Kathmandu, Nepal.

During commencement exercises at University Park on Saturday, eight Schreyer Scholars will serve as student marshals representing their respective academic college or program. The student marshals include:

Ashley Brooke Barr, representing the College of Health and Human Development;
Christian J. W. Haag, representing Air Force ROTC;
Cara Livorio, representing the College of Arts and Architecture;
Katherine Anne Myers, representing the Eberly College of Science;
Jonathan H. Morgan, representing the College of the Liberal Arts;
Peter Yilin Soung, representing the College of Engineering;
Erin Elizabeth Twerdok, representing the College of Education; and
Lisa Jane Voghel, representing the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

Also during commencement ceremonies for the Eberly College of Science, Dr. Charles A. Sanders, a member of the Schreyer Honors College's External Advisory Board, will receive an honorary doctor of science degree from Penn State. Sanders, a renowned scientist, educator, philanthropist, medical doctor, and administrator, is the former chairman and CEO of Glaxo, Inc. He currently serves as chairman of the board of the University of North Carolina Health System. Previously, he was a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is a graduate of Southwestern Medical College of the University of Texas. Sanders served as chair of the Schreyer Honors College's External Advisory Board in 2006.