PULLMAN, Wash. — Those who cannot attend Washington State University’s May 11 commencement can view the ceremonies live on the Internet worldwide or locally on cable television.
KWSU-TV/Educational Telecommunications and Technology will broadcast all three commencement ceremonies on Cable 8 to homes in Pullman. The broadcast also will be fed to WSU’s Web site www.wsu.edu. A commencement link at the top of the WSU home page will direct visitors to a videostreaming site and other commencement information. Or the direct link to view the live and archived versions of commencement is http://experience.wsu.edu.
The ceremony for the College of Agriculture and Home Economics, College of Engineering and Architecture, College of Pharmacy, College of Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine will begin at 8 a.m. The ceremony for College of Liberal Arts will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the ceremony for the College of Business and Economics, College of Education and College of Nursing is set for 3 p.m.
Nearly 1,730 undergraduates, 125 master’s and 77 doctoral candidates are expected to participate in the ceremonies, according to WSU Registrar’s Office.
Per Pinstrup-Andersen, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C., will speak at the 8 a.m. ceremony; Maria Cantwell, U.S. senator for Washington state will speak at 11:30 a.m.; and Robert C. Bates, WSU provost, will speak at 3 p.m.
Pinstrup-Andersen received the 2001 World Food Prize for his contributions to improve agricultural research, food policy and the lives of the poor. For three decades, he has conducted vital research on nutrition policy and economics of technological change. His life’s work has been devoted to helping those most afflicted by poverty and severe malnutrition gain access to food.
Cantwell has served as a U.S. senator since 2001. She also served in the Washington state legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. During her term in the House, she supported landmark legislation including the Family and Medical Leave Act and a deficit reduction plan. She is well-regarded by those in technology for fighting against archaic export restrictions on software encryption products. Before serving as senator, Cantwell joined the software start-up Progressive Networks in 1995, now a leader in Internet media technology known as RealNetworks.
Bates joined WSU as provost in January. Before that he led Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s largest college. He was instrumental in fostering cross-disciplinary instruction and research teams in the college and across the university that also extended to outreach, including service-learning and international program development. He also was a strong supporter of diversity, developing a revised faculty-hiring plan that addressed the college’s diversity issues. Bates is a WSU alumnus, earning a master’s degree in bacteriology and public health in 1969.
