Athens, Ga. – An estimated 1,380 students will be eligible to receive degrees at the University of Georgia’s summer commencement exercises Aug. 2 at 9:30 a.m. in Stegeman Coliseum.
The exercises are a combined ceremony for undergraduate and graduate students who complete degree requirements at the end of summer semester. About 760 candidates for bachelor’s degrees and 620 candidates for doctoral, master’s and specialist in education degrees are anticipated to be eligible to participate in the ceremony. Final numbers won’t be known until the conclusion of final exams on July 31.
Maxine Clark, a 1971 graduate of the University of Georgia and founder, chief executive and chairman of Build-A-Bear Workshop, will be the speaker for the university’s summer commencement exercises.
During Clark’s 30-year career, her ability to spot emerging retail and merchandising trends and her insight into the desires of the American consumer have generated growth for retail leaders, including department, discount and specialty stores. In 1997, she founded Build-A-Bear Workshop, a teddy-bear themed retail-entertainment experience. Today there are more than 370 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores worldwide, including company-owned stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France, and franchise stores in Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. Build-A-Bear Workshop extended its in-store interactive experience online in 2007 with the launch of its virtual world at buildabearville.comTM.
As part of the ceremony, two undergraduates will be recognized as First Honor Graduates for having maintained perfect 4.0 grade point averages on all undergraduate-level work. The students include Brian Paul-Ang Hsu from Evans who is graduating with a bachelor of business administration degree in finance and management. Additionally, Hannah Megan Westmoreland from Gainesville is graduating with a bachelor of science degree in biology.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on University Cable Channel 15 and streamed live on the UGA Web site.
Fall semester classes at UGA begin Aug. 18 and a commencement will be held Dec. 19 for students who complete degree requirements this fall.