Nearly 1,500 of more than 1,800 eligible graduates will participate in Ferris State University’s spring graduation ceremonies to be held the weekend of May 6 and 7 in Big Rapids.
Five commencement ceremonies will be held on Ferris’ main campus in the Ewigleben Sports Complex, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 6 with the College of Allied Health Sciences, followed by a 7 p.m. ceremony for the colleges of Arts, Sciences and Education, Pharmacy, and Professional and Technological Studies.
Ceremonies on Saturday, May 7 begin at 9 a.m. for College of Engineering Technology degree candidates, followed by the College of Business at 12:30 p.m., and the College of Education and Human Services and the Michigan College of Optometry at 4 p.m. Doors will open an hour before the ceremonies are scheduled to begin.
During Saturday’s 9 a.m. ceremony, Ken H. Mooyman, president and CEO of Leica Geosystems Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business and Industry.
Mooyman’s decades of experience in the geospatial industry and extensive business
background in international, multicultural environments have allowed him to lead this
cutting-edge technology company since September 2008. He is a member of the advisory
board for CyArk, a nonprofit organization focused on the preservation of cultural heritage sites.
Ferris’ Kendall College of Art and Design will hold its commencement at 10:30 a.m.
Saturday at the Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids. During the ceremony, Peter
Lawrence, chairman and founder of Corporate Design Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts,
will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from KCAD.
Lawrence established Corporate Design Foundation in 1985 to improve the quality of
life and effectiveness of organizations through design. The Foundation achieves this
by conducting research, developing of teaching material, working with faculty to introduce
design into the business school curriculum and collaborating with business organizations
to add design content to their programs.
He is currently exploring how to increase business understanding of the importance
of environmental issues and the opportunities of sustainable innovation.
The College of Professional and Technological Studies will graduate its first students
from the Digital Media Software Engineering program. The Bachelor of Science in Digital
Media Software Engineering focuses on the technologies, procedures and methodologies
involved in the software development process. The program addresses topics such as
requirements and configuration management, database design, unit testing, and quality
assurance. Graduates of this engineering degree will have experience designing, developing
and delivering quality software applications. For more information about this program,
please visit the Digital Media Software Engineering program here.
Ferris State University was founded in 1884 by educator Woodbridge N. Ferris, who later was elected Michigan governor and United States senator. Celebrating its 127th year of offering educational opportunities to Michigan’s citizens, Ferris is a four-year public university with campuses in Big Rapids, Grand Rapids and satellite locations across the state. The university offers more than 180 degree programs, including doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and associate degrees, through nine academic colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Arts, Sciences and Education, Business, Education and Human Services, the Michigan College of Optometry, Pharmacy, Engineering Technology, Kendall College of Art and Design, and the College of Professional and Technological Studies.