What

University of Nevada, Las Vegas Winter 2010 Commencement Ceremony

When

Tuesday, Dec. 14, beginning at 4 p.m.

Where

Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV

Details

More than 3,200 UNLV undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to participate in this year's winter commencement ceremony. This winter's grads range in age from 20 to 67 and hail from more than 60 countries. For those unable to attend, the event will be streamed live online at unlv.vegasgraduations.com.

Former Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn (posthumously) will be recognized with an honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree, Reverend Caesar Caviglia will receive the Distinguished Nevadan Award and Madison Graves (posthumously) will be honored with the President's Medal. UNLV President Neal Smatresk will also highlight four graduating students during the ceremony for their outstanding achievements both at the university and in the community.

Note: Floor access during commencement is limited to participants and credentialed media only. Media can reserve a UNLV commencement credential by contacting the Office of Public Affairs at (702) 895-0893 or by email at tony.allen@unlv.edu.

Guest/Visitor Information

The doors of the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion will open at 3 p.m. All guests should enter through the Thomas & Mack Center, while all graduates should report to Cox Pavilion for line-up. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis; no tickets are required. Ample parking is available in the Thomas & Mack Center lot. The ceremony will last approximately two and a half hours. For more information, please visit http://commencement.unlv.edu.

Outstanding Graduates

Outstanding graduates are selected by UNLV President Neal Smatresk after a semester-long nomination process. Students are chosen based on outstanding academic achievements, community outreach and their ability to overcome adversity.

David Basta - B.S. in Biological Sciences

David Basta's combination of academic excellence and civic engagement has set the bar high for future UNLV undergraduates. An Honors College student working toward a career in medicine, David graduates with an impressive 3.9 GPA and was recently accepted into the competitive Alpha Epsilon Delta physician shadowing program. As an undergraduate researcher in life sciences, David participated in a National Institutes of Health summer research program and won first place for undergraduate research at a branch meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. David is also active in numerous campus and community organizations, including the Minority Students in Science Program, Three Square and the Las Vegas Rescue Mission.

Kristin Guthrie - B.A. in History; B.A. in English

Kristin Guthrie gives new meaning to the term full-time student. Kristin, an Honors College student who earned bachelor's degrees in both history and English - and a minor in film - amassed more than 180 credits and an impressive 3.7 GPA. Through the history honor society Phi Alpha Theta, Kristin was instrumental in developing "Path to Publication," an effort to help undergrads transform term papers into publishable journal articles. Her own departmental honors thesis on Nevada's tumultuous political economic history is being adapted for publication. Kristin is very active off-campus as well; she worked as a legislative intern with Congresswoman Dina Titus as part of the Foreclosure Fighter mediation program to help constituents with loan modifications.

Jeremy Houska - Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology

Jeremy Houska has achieved remarkable success in both research and leadership while at UNLV. Jeremy, who is already employed as an assistant professor at Chicago's Concordia University, is nationally recognized as an instructor and researcher. While at UNLV, he earned the Wilbert J. McKeachie Teaching Excellence Award from the American Psychological Association as the top psychology graduate instructor. He has also published three peer-reviewed journal articles and a textbook chapter for his research on social and cognitive psychology. Jeremy served as president of UNLV's Graduate and Professional Student Association in 2007-2008, participating in several campus and statewide committees and staging some of the earliest student-led protests of proposed budget cuts to the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Tereza Jezkova - Ph.D. in Life Sciences

Tereza Jezkova has already made a tremendous impact in the field of biogeography. An incredibly active researcher, Tereza has published six peer-reviewed articles and has seven articles currently in review for her research on species' response to geologic and climatic change in the western United States. In 2009, Tereza won the best student poster award during the Fourth International Biogeography Society Conference in Mexico. Termed a 'rising star' in the life sciences field, she has earned research funding from the Nevada EPSCoR program and the National Science Foundation and was contributor to a UNLV President's Research Award project.