December 4, 2017

Purdue winter commencement ceremonies set for Dec. 17

William Dudley Purdue graduate William “Bill” Dudley, vice chairman of Bechtel Group, Inc., will speak at both winter commencement ceremonies.
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Graduating students at Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus will receive their degrees in two commencement ceremonies at Elliott Hall of Music on Dec. 17. Purdue President Mitch Daniels will be present at both ceremonies, and each will feature a student responder.

The commencement schedule is as follows:

  • Sunday, Dec. 17. 9:30 a.m., colleges of Agriculture, Education, Engineering and Liberal Arts.
  • Sunday, Dec. 17. 2 p.m. Colleges of Health and Human Sciences, Management, Pharmacy, Science and Veterinary Medicine, and the Polytechnic Institute.

Purdue graduate William “Bill” Dudley, vice chairman of Bechtel Group Inc., will speak at both ceremonies. Dudley is a director and former chief executive officer of Bechtel Group. 

Since joining Bechtel in 1981, Dudley has served in a variety of engineering, project management, and executive management positions around the world.

In 2008, he became president and chief operating officer of Bechtel Group, overseeing all of the company’s business units. He was elected chief executive officer in 2014, operating in this role until September 2016.

Prior to these assignments, Dudley served as president of the oil, gas and chemicals business unit, president of the Europe, Africa, and Middle East region, country manager for Thailand and manager of the pipeline business for Southeast Asia.

Dudley received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Purdue University in 1974 and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Houston. He is currently serving as a director of Brand Industrial Services Inc., the Inova Healthcare System, and the Engineering Advisory Council at Purdue. He previously served on the Business Roundtable and as a director of the US-China Business Council. 

The winter 2017 graduating class includes approximately 1,238 undergraduate degree candidates, 735 master's degrees and 296 doctoral degree-seekers, as well as two Doctor of Nursing Practice degree candidates.

 Brandon J. Brunt, a student in the College of Agriculture from Summitville, Indiana,

will give the student response in the morning session. Evan J. Clumb, a student in the College of Health and Human Sciences from Indianapolis, will be the student responder in the afternoon ceremony.

The commencement exercises will be livestreamed at http://www.kaltura.com/tiny/xeadk.

The video will play once broadcasting starts.

Commencement videos will be available for $30 per DVD. Order forms can be obtained at the Loeb Playhouse box office, online at http://www.purdue.edu/commencement/documents/DVD_Form.pdf or by calling 765-494-3933. Forms may be submitted within two weeks of the event.  

Construction on State Street will be concluded by Dec. 17, but visitors to campus are asked to be aware that some of the traffic patterns have shifted, including previously one-way streets that are now two-way. 

Commencement ceremonies will also be held at Purdue Northwest campuses in Hammond and Westville.

The Westville campus will hold its commencement in the James B. Dworkin Student Services and Activities Complex H.D. Kesling Gymnasium at 3 p.m. on Friday (Dec. 8).

The Hammond campus will hold ceremonies in the Fitness and Recreation Center on Saturday (Dec. 9). Graduates in the College of Business and College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences will participate in an 11 a.m. ceremony, while graduates in the College of Engineering and Sciences, College of Nursing and College of Technology will receive degrees at 3 p.m.

All ceremonies will be livestreamed on the PNW website

Writer: Tim Doty, 765-496-2571, doty2@purdue.edu

Source: Christine Pass, 765-494-6163, dehahn@purdue.edu

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