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Distinguished Teacher Franklund to Speak at Ferris Commencement Ceremonies

CommencementClifton Franklund, Ferris State University’s 2011-12 Distinguished Teacher of the Year, will address graduates during commencement ceremonies on Saturday, Dec. 15 in the Ewigleben Sports Complex on the Big Rapids campus.

Franklund, an associate professor of Biology in the College of Arts, Sciences and Education, will address about 505 graduates expected to participate in commencement ceremonies. Ceremonies take place at 10 a.m. for the colleges of Business and Health Professions, and at 1:30 p.m. for the colleges of Arts, Sciences and Education, Education and Human Services, and Engineering Technology.

Franklund said that he is looking forward to speaking at commencement, which he called his “favorite day of the academic year.”

“I think that our students are already inspired through the excellent programs and instruction offered by my colleagues at Ferris,” Franklund said. “My goal is to help our graduates reflect upon these experiences and apply them to the new challenges that await them in their careers as they enter ‘the real world.’”

Franklund, who also coordinates the university’s Biology program, joined Ferris in 2006 following six years as an assistant professor at California State University in Long Beach, Calif. In addition to his classroom responsibilities, Franklund serves as Ferris’ assessment coordinator.

Franklund earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., a Master of Science in Bacteriology from North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Va. He completed two post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Virginia.

In all, about 950 students will earn a Ferris diploma at the end of the Fall 2012 semester.

Ferris’ Kendall College of Art and Design will graduate 74 students, who have been invited to a luncheon in their honor hosted by KCAD President David Rosen. The graduates also will participate in Kendall’s May commencement ceremony.