Buff Briefs | Wood is commencement speaker

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Wood is commencement speaker

John Wood, founder of the international nonprofit organization “Room to Read,” will give the commencement address during the University of Colorado at Boulder’s spring graduation ceremony on Friday, May 7, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Folsom Field.

Wood is a 1986 graduate of CU’s Leeds School of Business. Over the past 10 years, his organization has established about 10,000 libraries across the developing world. “Room to Read” currently operates in nine countries — Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, South Africa and Zambia. Wood has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN and National Geographic Television to tell his story.

Stadium gates will open at 7 a.m. and guests are urged to be in their seats by 8:15 a.m. University officials recommend that people arrive as early as possible to avoid traffic delays.

During the ceremony, 5,825 degrees will be conferred. Degrees to be awarded include 4,530 bachelor’s degrees, 850 master’s degrees, 175 law degrees and 270 doctoral degrees. Students should check with their departments for more information about individual ceremonies held by departments. For a schedule of individual recognition ceremonies visit www.colorado.edu/commencement/spring/other.html. For more information about the main commencement ceremony visit www.colorado.edu/commencement.

Alumni Association gives awards

The CU-Boulder Alumni Association has announced its annual awards, and the 21 recipients were honored at a May 5 ceremony. The George Norlin Award, which honors outstanding alumni, was presented to Juli Steinhauer, Hank Brown, Richard Knowlton and Laurence Boxer.

The Robert L. Stearns Award, given in recognition of extraordinary contributions to the university, went to three faculty members — John Cumalat, Richard Noble and Robert Schulzinger — as well as one administrator, chief financial officer Ric Porreca.

The recipients of the Alumni Recognition Award are Woody Eaton, Leslie Bernstein Eaton, Joanne Arnold and Clancy Herbst Jr. Mary Allen Judd received the Leanne Skupa-Lee Award, while the Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Graduate Award went to Nick Sowden.

Eight students received the Public Interest Internship Experience awards: Wynne Adams, Denise Justice, Bryant Mason, Heidi Meyer, Austin Rempel and Mercedes Ruiz.

Environmental Center donates PCs

The University of Colorado at Boulder Environmental Center, with support from a number of campus departments and private sources, is expanding “Computers To Youth,” its initiative to protect the environment and benefit disadvantaged communities in Colorado.

It will now be an ongoing, yearround program, and its formal launch is set for Saturday, May 15, on the CU campus.

Computers To Youth provides middle and high school students from low-income communities around Colorado with upgraded computers and basic computing programs. Surplus computer are donated by CU’s property services department, which test components and securely remove any data. The high school students then bundle these components into an upgraded computer and load the latest software to assist their academic achievement when they take their computer home.

On-site instruction and follow-up mentoring is provided by CU students from the state-wide MESA program (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement).

Ten MESA high school students are recommended by MESA advisors (teachers) in schools throughout Colorado and work together with five engineering students on a Saturday.

The Environmental Center got funding from Dell for CU’s first computer round-up in 2005, when more than 50 working systems were collected.

For more information, contact Jack DeBell at 303-492-8733 or debell@colorado.edu.