About 1,500 graduates are expected to participate in the ceremonies this spring.
Elaine Bukowski, professor of Physical Therapy and a retired director of Stockton’s Physical Therapy program, will give the address at the Master’s and Doctoral commencement at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 12 in the Sports Center on the main Galloway campus.
Bukowski has taught at Stockton for the past 29 years, including as director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, the university’s first doctoral program.
In addition to clinical experience, Bukowski has taught human gross anatomy in the medical school in Kumasi, Ghana. She also is a practicing clinician providing pro bono services in southern New Jersey. She will be awarded Stockton’s Distinguished Service Award and professor emerita status at Thursday’s ceremony.
Patti McGill Peterson, presidential advisor for Global Initiatives at the American Council on Education (ACE), will be the keynote speaker at both the 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Baccalaureate ceremonies on Sunday, May 15.
Peterson oversees work on the internationalization and global engagement of higher education for ACE, the major coordinating association for higher education institutions in the United States.
She has also worked to increase access and success in postsecondary education while a senior associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) and served as executive director of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) and vice president of the Institute of International Education (IIE).
CIES coordinates international educational exchange with approximately 155 nations and has administered the Fulbright Scholar Program since 1947. During her tenure, new programs were developed to foster greater cross-cultural collaboration on topics of global significance and to encourage higher education development through academic exchange.
Peterson is also president emerita at Wells College and St. Lawrence University, where she held presidencies from 1980 to 1996. She will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Stockton at the commencement ceremony.
University President Harvey Kesselman will preside over all three commencements in the Sports Center on the university’s main Galloway campus.
This year marks Stockton’s fifth Spring Doctoral and Master’s Commencement ceremony. The growing graduate program awarded its first degrees in 1999 with a Master’s in Business Studies, and the first doctoral program, in Physical Therapy, was approved in 2006. Stockton is currently recruiting students for its 14 graduate programs.
Heather Gale, a Sociology/Anthropology major from Dorchester in Cumberland County, will address the graduates of the Schools of Arts and Humanities, Business, Education, General Studies and Health Sciences during the morning Baccalaureate ceremony on Saturday.
Dylan Martello, a Sustainability major with a concentration in Energy from Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County, will address the graduates of the Schools of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Social and Behavioral Sciences during the afternoon ceremony.
Stockton has joined a growing trend in moving away from identifying valedictorians and salutatorians for commencement ceremonies. The student speakers were selected through an application process initiated by the Provost’s Office and supported by the Faculty Senate.
In addition to Bukowski, retiring Stockton faculty members Shelby Broughton, Michael Hozik, Evonne Kruger, Carol Rittner and Francis C. Thomas will be receiving emeritus status.