May 2, 2007
Purdue to award 16 honorary degrees during spring commencements
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University will award 16 honorary doctoral degrees during the May commencement ceremonies at the university's campuses in West Lafayette, Fort Wayne and Westville.Fourteen honorees will be honored during four ceremonies May 11-13 at Purdue's Elliott Hall of Music on the West Lafayette campus. One will be honored at the Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne commencement May 9 at the Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum and Exposition Center. One will be recognized during the May 14 Purdue North Central commencement at Valparaiso University's Athletics - Recreation Center.
The 2007 recipients at the West Lafayette campus are:
* Lawrence C. Beck https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Beck.html, Atlanta, Ind., who built Beck's Superior Hybrids into the largest family-owned, independent retail seed company in the United States. His doctor of agriculture degree will be awarded at 9:30 a.m. May 13.
* Cornell A. Bell https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Bell.html, Gary, Ind., who was director of the Business Opportunity Program in Purdue's Krannert School of Management for 36 years until his retirement in 2006. His doctor of management degree will be awarded at 8 p.m. May 11.
* William T. Boehm https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Boehm.html, Cincinnati, who is senior vice president and president of the manufacturing division for the Kroger Co. He will receive his doctor of agriculture degree at 9:30 a.m. May 13.
* Robert L. Bowen https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Bowen.html, Indianapolis, who is the owner and founder of Bowen Engineering Co., a multi-market company that specializes in water and wastewater treatment plants and energy utility construction. His doctor of engineering will be awarded at 9:30 a.m. May 12.
* William C. Byham https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Byham.html, Pittsburgh, who is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Development Dimensions International Inc., a human resources consulting and training firm that has more than 1,200 employees in 26 countries. He will receive his doctor of social sciences at 2:30 p.m. May 12.
* Jacek K. Furdyna https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Furdyna.html, Granger, Ind., who spent 22 years in the physics department at Purdue and is now a physics professor at the University of Notre Dame. He will receive a doctor of science degree at 2:30 p.m. May 12.
* Fred Klipsch https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Klipsch.html, Indianapolis, who is chairman and CEO of Klipsch Group Inc. and vice chairman of Health Care Real Estate Investment Trust of Toledo, Ohio. He will receive his doctor of technology degree at 8 p.m. May 11.
* Gilbert A. Leveille https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Leveille.html, Denville, N.J., who serves as executive director of the Wrigley Science Institute. His doctor of science degree will be awarded at 9:30 a.m. May 13.
* Alan J. Levy https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Levy.html, Bellevue, Wash., who is president and CEO of Northstar Neuroscience Inc., a company he founded in 1999 to address stroke and neurological diseases and disorders. He will receive a doctor of science degree at 2:30 p.m. May 12.
* Bruce A. Olson https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Olson.html, St. Louis, who is president and co-owner of BBI Group, a private investment group, and also serves as chairman of Envisioneering Medical Technologies. He will receive his doctor of management degree at 8 p.m. May 11.
* Carol M. Pottenger https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Pottenger.html, Okinawa, Japan, who is a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group Seven, headquartered at White Beach Naval Facility in Okinawa, and is the U.S. Seventh Fleet's primary Navy advisor on amphibious matters in the Western Pacific and Indian oceans. She will receive her doctor of social sciences degree at 2:30 p.m. May 12.
* Jim E. Riviere https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Riviere.html, Raleigh, N.C., who is the founding director of the Center for Chemical Toxicology Research and Pharmacokinetics in the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University. He will receive a doctor of science degree at 9:30 a.m. May 12.
* Raymond Viskanta https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Viskanta.html, West Lafayette, who joined the Purdue faculty as an associate professor in mechanical engineering in 1962 and served as a visiting professor in California, Germany and Japan. He will receive a doctor of engineering degree at 9:30 a.m. May 12.
* Vern W. Weekman Jr. https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Weekman.html, Washington Crossing, Pa., who spent most of his career with Mobil Oil Corp., but most recently has served as a faculty industrial fellow and visiting lecturer at Princeton University. He will receive a doctor of engineering degree at 9:30 a.m. May 12.
The 2007 honorary degree recipient at IPFW is:
* Wendy Y. Robinson https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Robinson.html, Fort Wayne, Ind., who oversees the second-largest public school district in Indiana as the superintendent for the Fort Wayne Community Schools. She will receive a doctor of education degree at 7 p.m. May 9.
The 2007 honorary degree recipient at Purdue-North Central is:
* Sylvia R. Bankoff https://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007a/07hondocs/07Bankoff-PNC.html, Michigan City, Ind., who has been involved for more than 50 years in the LaPorte County League of Women Voters and has championed many causes to help shape the community. She will receive a doctor of humane letters at 7:30 p.m. May 14.
Writer: Jim Bush, (765) 494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu
Source: Jim Vruggink, director of special projects, (765) 494-2086, jvruggink@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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