University of Colorado at Boulder Distinguished Professor Marjorie McIntosh will give the commencement address on Friday, May 7, during the CU-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 4,640 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 pre-commencement breakfast on the Norlin Quadrangle on May 7, from 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. Illegal Pete's will serve breakfast burritos and Traditions Catering will provide juice and pastries.
Each spring the commencement ceremony begins with a procession 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 procession, which will begin at 8 a.m. on the Quad.
Degrees awarded will include 3,655 bachelor's degrees, 670 master's degrees, 316 doctoral degrees and 142 law degrees.
McIntosh, one of only 25 CU-Boulder professors to ever hold the distinguished professor title, has been a faculty member in the CU-Boulder history department since 1977. She founded and was the first executive director of the Center for British Studies at CU-Boulder and set up the Undergraduate Academy. During her address she will talk about "Becoming a Citizen of the World" and what CU graduates and the United States can gain from international participation.
She recently returned from a year of teaching and doing research in East Africa at Makerere University in Uganda, where she taught graduate students about how gender issues affect economic and political development. Her husband, Richard McIntosh, a distinguished professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at CU-Boulder, also was at Makerere studying sleeping sickness.
Also during the ceremony, Warner Imig, John McConnell and Rachel Noel will receive honorary degrees, Clyde Martz will receive the Distinguished Service Award and Charles McCord will be honored with the University Medal.
An internationally recognized choral director, singer and composer, Imig joined the faculty of CU-Boulder's College of Music in 1937, and was dean from 1951 to 1978 when he retired. In honor of his contributions to the College of Music, the music building was named the Imig Music Building in 1978. He is perhaps best recognized locally for his 40 years of leading the singalong during the annual Independence Day celebration held in Folsom Field.
As the first African American member of the Denver Public Schools' Board of Education, elected in 1965, Noel worked to end segregation in the city's public schools. She authored the "Noel Resolution," which called for equal education opportunity for all students and for the district to develop a plan to integrate the entire school system.
McConnell, a retired physicist, is founder and director of the Western Colorado Math and Science Center in Grand Junction. The center, which contains more than 160 exhibits and hands-on displays and a 5.5-acre science park, annually draws thousands of Colorado students and teachers to learn more about science and math.
A pioneer in the area of natural resources law, Martz served in positions under Presidents Truman, Johnson and Carter. He was both dean and a professor of the CU-Boulder law school, and his publications, including "Cases and Materials on Natural Resources Law" in 1951 and "American Law of Mining" in 1960, are still acclaimed as authoritative legal references on their respective topics.
During McCord's 20-year career as president and CEO of the CU Foundation, the university received $820 million in gifts, and the infrastructure he created now processes more than 45,000 gifts to the university per year.
For more information visit the commencement Web site at .