More than 650 students will receive degrees from the University of Washington Tacoma this year – the largest class ever by more than 100 graduates.
UW Tacoma’s 2002 Commencement celebration is set for Friday, June 14, beginning at 10 a.m., in the Tacoma Dome.
Highlights this year include two “firsts” for UW Tacoma: The first-ever graduate of the new Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences program, and the first graduates through the Institute of Technology at UW Tacoma.
This year’s Commencement speaker is Congressman Norm Dicks, an avid supporter in establishing and developing the UW Tacoma campus.
Dicks was first elected to Congress in November 1976. Educated in Bremerton-area elementary and secondary schools, Rep. Dicks was graduated from the University of Washington in 1963.
He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Washington School of Law in 1968, and later that year joined the staff of Sen. Warren G. Magnuson.
He served as legislative assistant until 1973, when he became the senator’s administrative assistant.
He resigned from that post in early 1976 to begin what was a successful campaign for Congress in Washington’s 6th Congressional District, and has been re-elected in each subsequent election.
This year’s student speaker is Richard Clark, a transfer student from Green River Community College who is receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. As a student at UW Tacoma, Clark was active in Business Student Ambassadors, an organization aimed at enhancing students’ learning, professional skills and leadership by engaging business students in volunteer opportunities in our community.
Clark, who has been supporting his studies at UW Tacoma with a full-time job, is a native of Australia who first came to the U.S. as an exchange student in the Bethel School District in 1991. He hopes to pursue a career in human resources.
During the event, the Outstanding Student Award for Academics will be presented to Suzanne Annest of Tacoma, who will receive a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.
This year’s Distinguished Faculty Award winner, John Peterson, a professor in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, will be acknowledged during the commencement ceremony.