UNL will grant degrees to an estimated 800 students at commencement exercises Aug. 10 and 11.
Chancellor Harvey Perlman will preside at the ceremonies at the Bob Devaney Sports Center for recipients of master's and doctoral degrees at 3 p.m. Aug. 10, and for recipients of baccalaureate degrees at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 11. Carolyn Pope Edwards, who is Willa Cather Professor of Psychology and a professor of Child, Youth and Family Studies, will give the address at the postgraduate ceremony. Dennis Molfese, Chancellor’s Professor and professor of special education and communication disorders, will address the baccalaureate ceremony.
Since joining UNL in 1997, Carolyn Pope Edwards has focused her research on developmental psychology and early childhood education, studying cultural influences on children’s development around the world. She is well known for her studies of the innovative public early childhood services of Reggio Emilia and Pistoia, Italy. She is also part of federally funded research projects seeking to evaluate and improve the quality of children’s services, to strengthen parent-child-teacher relationships to help children get ready for school, and to improve K-3 mathematics education throughout Nebraska. Her work emphasizes interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaboration in teaching, research and outreach. Edwards earned degrees at Harvard University in anthropology and human development. Earlier this year, Edwards received the University of Nebraska’s Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award.
Molfese directs UNL’s Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior; UNL’s Brain Imaging Center; and the Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory. His expertise is in using brain-recording techniques, such as MRI, to study the emerging relationships between brain development, language and cognitive processes. Molfese is the Big Ten/Committee on Institutional Cooperation research collaboration director on a joint initiative with the Ivy League to study the effects of head injuries in sports.
Molfese’s research has been continuously funded since 1975 through grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Department of Education, the National Foundation/March of Dimes, the MacArthur Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, NATO and NASA. Molfese joined UNL in 2010. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma City University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Penn State University. Prior to coming to UNL, he was affiliated with the University of Louisville.
All ceremonies are free and open to the public. UNL officials encourage those planning to attend the baccalaureate ceremonies to use the 27th Street entrance to Nebraska Innovation Campus and park in the paved lots east of the Devaney Center. Handicap accessible shuttle buses will be available for easy access to the Devaney Center entrance. Handicap permit parking will be available on the north side of the Devaney Center.
A drop-off area for graduates and mobility-restricted guests will be available on the south side of the Devaney Center. Sign-language interpreters for hearing-impaired individuals will be provided through the HuskerVision screens. Reserved seats for guests who are ambulatory restricted will be available next to the stage on the arena floor, as well as in Section B-11. Guests in wheelchairs will be seated on the northeast corner of the arena floor. Because of security concerns, parcels, handbags and camera bags will be subject to search.
The exercises will be Web-streamed live from the Devaney Center through a link at the UNL website, http://www.unl.edu.
— Kelly Bartling, University Communications