Office of University Communications
Missouri State to confer 2,104 degrees during spring commencement
Nancy Brown Dornan and Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh to receive honorary doctorates
Date: May 9, 2008
Contact: Dr. John Catau
(417) 836-4589
Degrees in the College of Business Administration will be given out at 10 a.m. Degrees in the College of Arts and Letters, College of Education and College of Humanities and Public Affairs will be given out at 1:30 p.m. Degrees in the College of Health and Human Services and College of Natural and Applied Sciences will be given out at 5 p.m.
Nancy Brown Dornan will receive the Doctor of Public Affairs at the 1:30 p.m. ceremony. A committed community leader, Dornan is the president of the Urban District Alliance, which coordinates cooperation among a number of Springfield organizations. She also sits on the board of directors for the Ozark Technical Community College Foundation and for the Gilloz Theatre, where she was a former president. Dornan served as president of the Springfield Landmarks Preservation Trust from 1993 to 2007 and guided the $8.3 million renovation of the Gillioz Theatre and adjacent Netters Building. Dornan had been instrumental in founding the Walnut Street Historic Neighborhood Association, the Historic Walnut Street Development, LLC, and the Artsfest. Currently, she is active in various renovation projects in downtown Springfield, including the redevelopment of the Busy Bee and single family residences around Walnut Street.
Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh will receive the Doctor of Science at the 5 p.m. commencement. Savage-Rumbaugh, an internationally-known scholar doing important research in language and cognition, is known for her work with bonobos, also known as pygmy chimpanzees. She was a founding member of the Great Ape Trust of Iowa which houses bonobos, orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas in an effort to promote research and conservation efforts. Savage-Rumbaugh has written five books, made nine films, and authored or coauthored 170 journal articles.
A total of 1,604 baccalaureate degrees, 465 master's degrees, four specialist degrees and 31 doctorate degrees will be conferred. Beyond the standard expectations, 135 students will be recognized for their work with a more rigorous curriculum in Missouri State's Honors College. Scholastic honors will be given to 130 students who will graduate summa cum laude (with a grade point average of 3.9-4.0 on a 4.0 scale), 131 who will graduate magna cum laude (with a GPA of 3.75-3.89) and 264 who will graduate cum laude (with a GPA of 3.4-3.74).
Caleb Lines, senior religious studies major from Monett, will graduate summa cum laude with a 3.92 GPA and has been on the dean's list every semester. After graduating, Lines will attend Yale Divinity School.
"I see myself working in a congregational ministry," said Lines. "The church needs to help people use faith to reshape what's wrong in church and government and stand up for what's right. A lot of departments at Missouri State, with their public affairs mission and focus on diversity, lead to an end result of social justice."
Lines said his experience at Missouri State has heightened his sense of social justice. A Spanish minor, Lines traveled in the summer of 2007 to Guatemala on a scholarship from the department of modern and classical languages.
"I went there to learn Spanish mainly, but I volunteered for an impoverished school system, and that profoundly changed me," Lines said.
After returning to Springfield, Lines founded a chapter of United Students for Fair Trade at Missouri State to help respond to the poverty and environmental issues he observed in Guatemala.
Lines was also a tutor for Habitat for Humanity, a youth pastor at South Street Christian Church and has been a member of the Pride Band for four years.
Lines offers some advice for current and prospective students: "Go in with an open mind. Expect and allow yourself to be changed by education. It's not good if you leave the same way you came in. I'm glad I ended up at Missouri State. It was great for me and I will look back fondly at the memories I made here."