May 6, 2011 — Commencement ceremonies at the University of Utah were held today, Friday, May 6, at 9 a.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
The class of 2011, comprised of 7,416 graduates, received degrees that
morning. The procession of diverse students, who come from 70 countries,
49 U.S. states and 28 different counties in Utah, began at 8:30 a.m.

Of the graduates, 5,412 received bachelor’s degrees; 1,870 received
master’s degrees; 482, doctorates; 138, juris doctorates; 108 are
doctors of medicine; and 54 are doctors of pharmacy. Of this year’s
graduates, 3,982 are men and 3,434 are women. The number of degrees
awarded exceeds the number of graduates, as some students received more
than one degree. A total of 8,064 degrees were conferred.

The youngest undergraduate member of the Class of 2011 is 19; the
oldest, 71. The average age of bachelor’s degree recipients is 25. The
average grade point average for this group is 3.2. The average age of
students receiving graduate degrees is 31. The youngest student
receiving a graduate degree is 20 and the oldest is 66.

The most undergraduate degrees awarded were in the following 11 departments, respectively: economics, psychology, mass communication, human development and family studies, nursing, exercise and sports science, mechanical engineering, finance, accounting, English and sociology.

University of Utah President Michael K. Young officiated the
commencement. The featured speaker was journalist and author Mitch
Albom, who also was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Humane
Letters. The student speaker was Lara Galas, who graduated in English. The vocalist was graduating senior Valaura Arnold.

Honorary degrees
also were presented to Ellis R. Ivory, who received a Doctorate of
Business; Venkatraman “Venki” Ramakrishnan, received a Doctorate of
Science; Joyce T. Rice, who received a Doctorate of Humane Letters; and
E. Parry Thomas, who received a Doctorate of Business.

The Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence,
a $40,000 cash award and the most prestigious honor the university
bestows on its faculty, was awarded to Peter B. Armentrout,
distinguished professor of chemistry and Cannon Fellow.

The Distinguished Teaching Award recipients for this year were: Cindy
Burrows, distinguished professor of chemistry; Elizabeth Clement,
associate professor of history; John Funk, adjunct instructor in the
Urban Institute for Teacher Education; and Robert A. Young, professor of
architecture.

The Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award recipients
were: Erik Jorgensen and John Sperry, biology professors, and Matthew
Sigman, chemistry professor.

New this year, a Distinguished Innovation and Impact Award was
given to the following: Theodore Stanley, professor of anesthesiology,
and Carl Wittwer, professor of pathology.

The 2011 Distinguished Professors were: Scott Anderson,
distinguished professor of chemistry; Morris Rosenzweig, distinguished
professor of music; and Pierre Sokolsky, distinguished professor of
physics and dean of the College of Science.

The university recognized the 2011 Honors Professor Matthew Bradley
from the College of Architecture + Planning; the 2011 Bennion Center
Public Service Professor, Enrique Aleman, Jr., from the Department of
Educational Leadership and Policy; and the recipient of the Calvin S.
and JeNeal Hatch Prize in Teaching, Professor Abby Fiat, Department of
Modern Dance.

The 2011 University Professors Robert Hitchcock, Department of
Bioengineering, and Stephen Goldsmith, Department of City &
Metropolitan Planning were recognized along with the Outstanding Public
School Teacher Cheryl Baker from the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind,
and Associate Professor Marissa Diener, Department of Family and
Consumer Studies, who received the Distinguished Service Award.

The university also recognized 19 students who are service-learning scholars from the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center.

Convocations for the colleges of health, nursing and social work were held on Thursday, May 5, 2011.

Individual college convocations on Friday, May 6 were scheduled at the following locations and times:

• College of Architecture + Planning: 11:30 a.m., Olpin Union Ballroom

• David Eccles School of Business: 4:15 p.m., Jon M. Huntsman Center

• College of Education: 11:30 a.m., Kingsbury Hall

• College of Engineering: 11:15 a.m., Jon M. Huntsman Center

• College of Fine Arts: 1:30 p.m., Kingsbury Hall

• College of Humanities: 1:45 p.m., Jon M. Huntsman Center

• College of Mines And Earth Sciences: 11:30 a.m., Film & Media Arts Auditorium

• College of Pharmacy: 2:00 p.m., Olpin Union Ballroom

• College of Science: 3:30 p.m., Kingsbury Hall

• College of Social And Behavioral Science: 6:45 p.m., Jon M. Huntsman Center

Commencement ceremonies for the S. J. Quinney College of Law will be held Friday, May 13 at 10 a.m., in Kingsbury Hall. The School of Medicine will hold commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 21, at 10 a.m., in Kingsbury Hall.

Campus parking lots
may be used at no charge during commencement and convocation
ceremonies. As campus parking is limited, visitors are encouraged to use
the free U shuttle service
to travel between commencement events. Shuttles run throughout campus
and are scheduled every 10 minutes. There is a free far zone on TRAX May 6.