April 22, 2004 — The University of Utah’s class of 2003-2004, comprised of 7,404 graduates, will receive their degrees at commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 7, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The procession of diverse graduates, who come from 60 countries, 50 U.S. states and 26 Utah counties, will begin at 8:20 a.m., with the commencement ceremony beginning at 9 a.m. (Guests should plan to be in their seats prior to 8:30 a.m. Tickets are not required.)

The class of 2003-2004 has 561 more graduates than last year, due to the increase in the number of master’s degree graduates. Of the 7,404, 5,338 are bachelor’s; 1,524 are master’s; 288 are doctorates; 131 are Juris Doctors; 99 are Doctors of Medicine; and 24 are Doctors of Pharmacy. Of this year’s graduates, 4,056 are men and 3,348 are women.

The youngest bachelor’s degree recipient is 18; the oldest, 64. The average age of bachelor’s degree recipients is 26. The average grade point average for this group is 3.32. The average age of students receiving graduate degrees is 32. The youngest student receiving a graduate degree is 21 and the oldest is 74.

The most number of degrees will be awarded in economics, mass communications, political science, psychology and finance.

University of Utah Interim President A. Lorris Betz will officiate at this year’s commencement. Featured speaker will be Tom Ridge, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He will be presented with an honorary Doctorate of Laws. The student speaker will be James VanDyke, who will be graduating in English.

Honorary degrees will also be presented to Ian M. Cumming, Cleone P. Eccles, H. Tracy Hall, Christine Ackerman Machen and J. Bernard Machen, president of the University of Utah from 1998 through the end of 2003 and current president of the University of Florida. The Rosenblatt Prize, a $40,000 cash award and the most prestigious honor the University bestows on its faculty, will be announced as well.

The Distinguished Teaching Award Recipients for this year are: Douglas A. Christensen, professor of Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering; Howard Horwitz, professor of English; Sandra Shotwell, professor of Theatre; and David Temme, associate professor-lecturer of Biology. The Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award recipients are John B. Hibbs Jr., distinguished professor of Internal Medicine, and Henry S. White, professor of Chemistry.

Convocations for the College of Nursing, the College of Social Work and the College of Health will be held the day before the University’s commencement-on Thursday, May 6, 2004. The College of Nursing convocation will be held at 5 p.m. in Kingsbury Hall. The Graduate School of Social Work convocation will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Kingsbury Hall. The College of Health’s ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Individual colleges will hold convocations at the following locations and times:
— College of Social and Behavioral Science: Jon M. Huntsman Center, 11:15 a.m.
— College of Architecture + Planning: Olpin Union Ballroom, 11:30 a.m.
— College of Fine Arts: Kingsbury Hall, 11:30 a.m.
— College of Mines and Earth Sciences: Fine Arts Auditorium, 11:30 a.m.
— College of Pharmacy: Skaggs Hall, 11:30 a.m.
— College of Science: Kingsbury Hall, 1:30 p.m.
— College of Humanities: Jon M. Huntsman Center, 1:45 p.m.
— College of Education: Kingsbury Hall, 3:30 p.m.
— David Eccles School of Business: Jon M. Huntsman Center, 4:15 p.m.
— College of Engineering: Jon M. Huntsman Center, 6:45 p.m.

Campus parking lots may be used at no charge during commencement and convocation ceremonies. Although, as campus parking is limited, graduates and their guests are encouraged to use the free U shuttle service to travel between commencement events. Shuttles run throughout campus and are scheduled every 10 minutes.

Commencement ceremonies for the College of Law will be held May 14, at 10 a.m., in Kingsbury Hall. The School of Medicine will hold commencement ceremonies on May 22, at 10 a.m. at Kingsbury Hall.