FIU to graduate thousands this fall

Florida International University will award degrees this fall to approximately 3,600 graduates, who range from the scientific and the athletic, to the selfless and the tireless. Also receiving degrees will be many who completed their studies during the last summer term.

“The one thing our diverse student body has in common is their desire to succeed against all odds,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “The hallmark of a Panther is the ability to turn the impossible into the inevitable.”

Six commencement ceremonies will take place Monday, Dec. 13 and Tuesday, Dec. 14 at the U.S. Century Bank Arena, located at FIU’s Modesto Maidique Campus, in west Miami-Dade County.

Among those wearing cap and gown next week will be the following Worlds Ahead graduates.

Paulo Olivas has earned a Ph.D. in biology while leading a research team that put up a 140-foot scaffolding tower in the Costa Rican forest more than 70 times. The project helped study the forest canopy structure and was the first attempt to determine leaf area distribution in the tropical rain forest in an effort to better understand and protect the ecosystem. Olivas will graduate on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

Yarimar Rosa is the only FIU student-athlete in the history of the university to have received the All-America recognition four times. A star volleyball player, Rosa is graduating with a bachelor’s in international business and plans to pursue an international and professional volleyball career in her native Puerto Rico. Rosa will receive her degree on Monday at 3 p.m.

Diana Jo was undeterred by the lack of information and funding when she set out to use specialized software to design a sewer system for the village of El Carmen in central Guatemala. Once built, her project is expected to greatly improve the public health conditions in El Carmen. Jo graduates on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Fredesvinda Guijarro, 65, earned her bachelor’s in English with a minor in psychology one class at a time while working at a parochial school in Hialeah. After raising her children, Guijarro decided to pursue her degree in 1998 and enrolled at Miami Dade College. In 2004 she came to FIU, where she continued taking one class at a time. She will graduate on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

The full commencement schedule, including honorees at each ceremony, is as follows:

MONDAY, Dec. 13, 2010

Ceremony 1:  10:00 a.m.

School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
College of Education

Honoree: Jay Litt ’73 will receive the FIU Medallion – Outstanding Alumnus.      

Ceremony 2:  3:00 p.m.

College of Business Administration (Landon Undergraduate School of Business)

Honoree: Morris Hollander will receive the FIU Medallion – Cal Kovens Distinguished Community Service Award.

Ceremony 3:  7:30 p.m.

College of Business Administration (Chapman Graduate School of Business)
College of Engineering and Computing

TUESDAY, Dec. 14, 2010

Ceremony 4:  10:00 a.m.

College of Arts and Sciences (except SIPA)

Honoree:  Judge Barbara Lagoa ’89, will receive the FIU Medallion – Outstanding Alumna.

Ceremony 5:  3:00 p.m.

College of Architecture and The Arts
College of Arts and Sciences (SIPA only)

Ceremony 6:  7:30 p.m.

Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work
College of Nursing and Health Sciences

Honoree: Trustee Albert Maury ’96 & ’02 will receive the FIU Medallion – Outstanding Alumnus.

For more details about FIU’s fall commencement, honorees and other Worlds Ahead graduates, please visit http://commencement.fiu.edu/.

Media Contact:  Maydel Santana-Bravo  at 305-972-8276.