CSC News

Department Confers 138 Degrees During Spring Diploma Ceremony

The NC State Department of Computer Science conferred 138 degrees during the Spring Diploma Ceremony on May 9, 2009.  Approximately 1,000 relatives and guests attended the event held at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh.

The graduating class included eight PhDs, 67 MS degrees, and 63 BS degrees, expanding the department’s alumni base to well over 5,800.

The undergraduate class included three students recognized as members of the Computer Science Honors Program:  Kathryn Jane Lemanski, Derrick Raymond Marcey, and William Frederick Reznak; and four recognized as University Scholars:  Jordan R. Benson, Kathryn Jane Lemanski, William Frederick Reznak, and David Lee Sulock.  Overall, more than 55% of those receiving their BS degrees, graduated with honors.

Dr. Mladen Vouk, department head, professor, and Associate Vice Provost for Information Technology, congratulated the graduates on their accomplishments, noting the numerous awards and accolades this class has received.  He thanked the faculty, staff, parents, family and friends who contributed to the success of the graduates. He also made a point of recognizing and showing appreciation to all the mothers present in honor of Mother’s Day.

NC State Computer Science graduate Rudy Puryear, leader of Bain & Company’s Global IT Practice and a Bain partner in Chicago, delivered the keynote address.  He has more than 25 years experience advising senior executives about leveraging technology to enable strategic change.  Puryear acknowledged the state of the economy, but shared several of his favorite quotes, including this Chinese quote:  “May you live in interesting times.”  He assured the graduates that they were, in fact, living in interesting times, and pointed out that the Chinese use the same symbol for danger as they do for opportunity.  He went on to urge the graduates to “not waste a good crisis,” and finally encouraged them to “always stand firm in what they believe is right.”

Providence Baptist Church proved to be an outstanding venue for the department’s diploma ceremony, providing ample parking, comfortable accommodations, and professional AV capabilities allowing for live broadcast of the ceremony.  DVDs of the ceremony are available for a nominal processing fee.  Contact Tammy Coates for more information.  Additionally, a professional photographer took photos of each graduate as he/she received her diploma.  For more information, please contact the photographer.

Local musician Jennifer Harrenstein, provided special entertainment.

Special thanks to our Diploma Ceremony sponsors:  AT&T, our ePartners Program, its participating corporate sponsors, and the NC State Engineering Foundation.

~coates~