Commencement details
Indiana University commencement ceremonies will take place all over the state, stretching from May 4 to 12. IU President Michael A. McRobbie will preside over the ceremonies, at which more than 21,000 degrees will be awarded.
Graduates hail from 92 Indiana counties, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 136 countries. Some 69.2 percent of graduates are Indiana residents, 55.4 percent are women, and 22.2 percent are first-generation college students. Underrepresented minorities constitute 15.4 percent of graduates, and 10.3 percent are international students.
Award-winning author, news producer and lecturer A’Lelia Bundles will speak at IUPUI’s May 12 ceremony. Bundles is the great-great-granddaughter of entrepreneur, social activist and influential philanthropist Madam C.J. Walker.
IUPUI’s ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis. The campus will award 6,940 degrees: 817 doctoral degrees, 1,580 master’s degrees, 4,471 bachelor’s degrees and 72 associate degrees. The IUPUI total includes 1,662 Purdue University degrees as well as 280 degrees awarded to graduates of Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus. IUPUC graduates may attend the Indianapolis ceremony as well as a separate celebration at 5:30 p.m. that same day at Columbus East High School.
A number of events specific to each student’s school will be held before and after commencement, with a full list available.
Day of Remembrance set for May 7
The biannual IUPUI Day of Remembrance will honor 67 students, alumni, staff and faculty members who have recently died. The event runs from 11 am. To noon Monday, May 7, in the Room 305 of the Campus Center.
Those in attendance will have the opportunity to pay tribute and say some words during the ceremony if they choose to do so. Call 317-274-8990 for more information.
Winner of Outstanding Graduate and Professional Student Mentor Award announced
The first IUPUI Outstanding Graduate and Professional Student Mentor Award went to Jason Meyer, an associate professor in the Department of Biology. Meyer received the award at the Elite 50 Recognition Dinner in April. He was selected from a pool of more than 40 nominations.
“Dr. Meyer has made a tremendous impact on the lives of his graduate students by maintaining effective communication and fostering independence in those students he has mentored,” said Randall Roper, PhD, director of the IUPUI Graduate Mentoring Center. “Mentoring is more than just transferring critical thinking and technical skills from professor to student. It encompasses helping students to develop their talents and realize the dreams for successful careers in science.”
The Graduate Mentoring Center was established in January to focus on fostering graduate and professional student academic and career success, as well as promote a greater understanding of diversity on campus.
The goals of the graduate mentoring center are:
- To provide resources and opportunities for faculty and staff to strengthen their skills in mentoring graduate and professional students;
- To serve graduate and professional students interested in learning more about mentoring and professionalism; and
- To promote a greater understanding of diversity and inclusion on campus.
IU School of Medicine teams up with former Colts coach
On April 20, the Indianapolis community paid tribute to Chuck and Tina Pagano by raising more than $700,000 to create a cancer research fund in their names at Indiana University School of Medicine.
The Chuck and Tina Pagano Cancer Research Fund will ensure that researchers will have funding to support their work early in their careers. In the same way that Pagano, former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, mentored young football players as they launched their careers, this fund will support promising junior researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.
“Chuck selflessly shared his personal journey with the public while he fought a rare form of leukemia,” said Dr. Patrick Loehrer, director of the IU Simon Cancer Center. “His impact, whether privately visiting other cancer patients or publicly helping to raise money, has been immeasurable.”
The fund to honor the many contributions of the Paganos was created by those who previously contributed to the Chuckstrong initiative. The fund’s establishment was announced during “A Celebration of Commitment” at the home of Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, who kicked off the campaign with a gift of $250,000.
Informatics outreach program earns statewide tech recognition
Informatics Diversity-Enhanced Workforce (iDEW) won the Tech Educator of the Year award during TechPoint’s 19th annual Mira Awards gala honoring the best of tech in Indiana. iDEW is a program of the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI.
The program is on a mission to increase the number and diversity of high school students that pursue degrees and careers in computing and information technology — especially among groups underrepresented in technology, such as females, racial minorities and students from low-income families.
The Mira Awards judges believed iDEW is supporting an urgent technology industry need with a practical, hands-on approach to filling the talent pipeline with students who know how to design and build technologies and have a sense of belonging to the tech community, while also ensuring that the Indy tech community will meet (and perhaps, exceed) the diverse gender, racial and socio-economical percentage makeup of the Greater Indianapolis area in the future.
iDEW’s current enrollment is 80 percent underrepresented minorities and 32 percent female.
