Astronaut Jim Voss will give the commencement address on Friday, May 9, during the University of Colorado at Boulder spring commencement ceremony.
The ceremony, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Folsom Stadium, where 4,943 degrees will be conferred.
Guests are asked not to bring large purses or bags to the ceremony, and people entering the stadium may be subject to search.
Graduating students are invited to attend a commencement breakfast on the Norlin Quadrangle on May 9, from 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. Illegal Pete's will serve breakfast burritos and Traditions Catering will provide juice and pastries. Program Council, a student-run organization that sponsors entertainment and speakers for CU-Boulder students, is arranging for music on the Quad.
Voss, a CU-Boulder graduate and honorary degree recipient, is a veteran of five space flights, including two trips to the International Space Station. During his most recent mission in March 2001, Voss flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery and docked with the International Space Station.
As a member of the second crew to live on the outpost, he served aboard the space station for 163 days. During his stay in space, Voss conducted spacewalks in both American and Russian space suits and logged more than nine hours outside the station in spacewalks.
Degrees awarded will include 3,876 bachelor's degrees, 730 master's degrees, 204 doctoral degrees and 133 law degrees. The College of Arts and Sciences will lead the bachelor's degree count with 2,468 degrees, followed by the Leeds School of Business with 611, College of Engineering and Applied Science with 376, School of Journalism and Mass Communication with 211, College of Architecture and Planning with 155 and the College of Music with 55. The Graduate School will award 877 degrees and there will be 57 MBAs.
Also during the ceremony, Boulder businessman Steven Bosley will receive an honorary doctoral degree and CU-Boulder astronaut alumni Kalpana Chawla and Ellison Onizuka will be honored posthumously.
In 1979 Bosley founded the internationally known "Bolder Boulder," a 10K race held in Boulder each Memorial Day. The race, which started out as a small local footrace, this year will draw more than 45,000 runners and walkers of all ages and skill levels.
Bosley graduated from CU-Boulder's College of Business in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in business administration, and served as the president, chairman and CEO of the Bank of Boulder from 1974 to 1998.
Chawla, who was one of seven astronauts who lost their lives in the Columbia shuttle disaster Feb. 1, was returning from her second space mission on the Columbia. She earned her doctorate in aerospace engineering from CU-Boulder in 1988.
Onizuka was one of seven crewmembers who died in the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering from CU-Boulder in 1969.
Each spring the commencement ceremony begins a processional of faculty and all graduates from Norlin Quadrangle across campus to Folsom Stadium. Guests are urged to be in their seats at the stadium by 8:15 a.m. to watch the student processional, which will begin at 8 a.m. on the Quad.
The next commencement ceremony will be held Dec. 19, 2003. The official graduation date for summer graduates will be Aug. 9, however, CU-Boulder no longer has a summer commencement ceremony. The summer ceremony was eliminated due to past low attendance.
For more information visit the commencement Web site at .