Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will give commencement address
*The UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Spring commencement, Sunday, May 16, at 2:30 p.m. at the Chester Fritz Auditorium. Speaker: Dr. Norman Byers, UND clinical associate professor of surgery and an Altru Health System ophthalmologist.
*At this year’s general commencement, the UND College of Nursing will graduate the first two students from its master’s degree program in gerontological nursing; both students completed the program online. Additionally, the College of Nursing will graduate the first class from its accelerated baccalaureate nursing program.
*Honorary degree
UND will confer an honorary Doctor of Letters on UND alum and North Dakota native Howard Dahl, an internationally known businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Dahl will join the ranks of more than 200 recipients, including President John F. Kennedy, famed heart surgeon Michael DeBakey, philosopher Mortimer Adler, and basketball legend and UND alum Phil Jackson.
*Chester Fritz Distinguished Professors
UND will award its highest honor for faculty—the Chester Fritz Distinguished Professorship—to Holly Brown-Borg, associate professor, UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences Dept. of Pharmacology, Phsysiology, and Therapeutics; Birgit Hans, professor and chair, UND Department of Indian Studies; and Mary Ann Sens, professor and chair, UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences Dept. of Pathology.
*U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano mini-bio
Janet Napolitano was sworn in on January 21, 2009, as the third Secretary of Homeland Security. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Napolitano was midway through her second term as Governor of Arizona. While Governor, Napolitano became the first woman to chair the National Governors Association, where she was instrumental in creating the Public Safety Task Force and the Homeland Security Advisors Council. She also chaired the Western Governors Association. Napolitano previously served as the Attorney General of Arizona and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.
