Janet Napolitano, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, will give the main address at UND's general commencement at 1:30 p.m. today in the Alerus Center.
Napolitano became the country's third Secretary of Homeland Security in January 2009, shortly after President Barack Obama's inauguration. Before joining the administration, she was in her second term as Arizona's governor. She previously served as Arizona's attorney general and as the U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona.
About 1,600 students are eligible to cross the stage today. Counting ceremonies in August and December, UND graduates about 2,700 students annually. UND President Robert Kelley's second spring commencement will include the UND College of Nursing graduating its first two students in its master's degree program in gerontological nursing. The college also will graduate its first class from its accelerated baccalaureate nursing program.
UND will confer an honorary Doctor of Letters on UND alumnus Howard Dahl, an internationally known businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist. President John F. Kennedy, heart surgeon Michael Debakey, philosopher Mortimer Adler and NBA player and coach Phil Jackson are also included in the more than 200 recipients of a Doctor of Letters.
Receiving the Chester Fritz Distinguished Professorship -- the highest honor for faculty -- are Holly Brown-Borg, associate professor, UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics; Birgit Hans, professor and chairwoman, UND Department of Indian Studies; and Mary Ann Sens, professor and chairwoman, UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences Department of Pathology.
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The UND School of Medicine and Health Services has a separate spring commencement at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The speaker is Dr. Norman Byers, UND clinical associate professor of surgery and an Altru Health System ophthalmologist.
