Michigan Normal School's first graduating class, in 1854,
consisted of four women and five men. The ceremony was
simple and took place in the only campus building.
As EMU celebrates the 160th anniversary of its founding
in 1849 and 155 years of graduations, more than 1,800 students
will be eligible to participate in commencement ceremonies
Sunday, April 26, at the Convocation Center (799 N. Hewitt
Rd.).
There are two ceremonies, one at 10 a.m. and one at 2
p.m. Doors open 90 minutes before each ceremony. Tickets
are limited to graduates and their families and friends.
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Smith |
Approximately 1,595 undergraduates and 579 graduate students
(including nine doctoral candidates) are eligible to participate.
Eastern Michigan University President Susan W. Martin
will preside over the commencement ceremonies.
Ernest Brandon, professor of music, will serve as grand
marshal for the 10 a.m. ceremony. Jeanne Pietig, professor
of teacher education, is the grand marshal for the 2 p.m.
ceremony.
The EMU Wind Symphony, conducted by Mary Schneider, will
provide music. The Army ROTC will provide the Color Guard.
Richard M. Smith, chairman of Newsweek, will be the keynote
speaker and honorary degree recipient at the 10 a.m. ceremony,
while Kenneth Fine, retired vice president and general
manager of semiconductor products group for Intel Corporation,
will speak at the 2 p.m. ceremony.
Smith joined Newsweek in 1970 on a four-week writing tryout.
After serving as a writer in the international and national
affairs departments, he moved to Hong Kong as Asian Editor
and Hong Kong Bureau Chief. In 1978, he became editor of
the magazine's international editions. In 1984, he became
editor-in-chief of Newsweek and added business side responsibilities
in 1991 as president and CEO. He became chairman in 1998.
During his term as editor-in-chief and CEO, Newsweek launched
seven foreign-language editions — in Japanese,
Korean, Russian, Polish, Arabic, Spanish and Chinese — of
the magazine, and started Newsweek.com. which reaches,
on average, approximately 7 million unique users a month.
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Fine |
Fine has led a distinguished career in both business and
academia with more than 25 years of executive and management
experience with companies such as Intel Corporation, Digital
Equipment Corporation and Valid-Logic Systems.
Until his retirement in the late 1990s, Fine spent 14
years with Intel. Intel Corporation is the world's
largest semiconductor company and is known as the inventor
of a series of microprocessors that are found in most personal
computers.
During his tenure at Intel, Fine most notably served as
general manager of Intel's Microprocessor Division. He
spearheaded the production ramp-up of the 80286 family
of microprocessors and the development and market introduction
of the more advanced 80386 family. These two developments
established Intel as a major microprocessor supplier for
the personal computer marketing.
