Kent State Holds Summer Commencement Ceremony on Aug. 20

Kent State University will hold its Summer 2016 Commencement ceremony for the Kent Campus on Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (MAC Center). Kent State will confer 1,455 degrees, including 917 bachelor’s degrees, 440 master’s degrees, 75 doctoral degrees and 23 educational specialist degrees.

Across the university’s eight-campus system, 1,610 students will graduate from Kent State this summer, including those receiving associate degrees.

The advanced and baccalaureate degrees Commencement ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. The speaker for the ceremony is Kent State alumnus Donald C. Brown, executive vice president and chief financial officer of FedEx Freight Corporation in Memphis, Tennessee. FedEx Freight is the largest provider of less-than-truckload freight services in the United States. Brown joined FedEx in 1998 through an acquisition and had financial leadership roles in multiple FedEx companies before his current role at FedEx Freight. Prior to joining FedEx, Brown practiced as a certified public accountant in Ernst & Young’s Akron office, and served in various officer positions at Roadway Services and Caliber System.

Brown earned his B.B.A. in accounting in August 1977 from Kent State. He was a placekicker on the Golden Flashes football squad and was recognized in 2014 by Kent State’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics as a Distinguished Athletic Alumnus. Brown also was a Starner Distinguished Speaker last April at the MAC Center. While at Kent State, Brown was awarded the H. Wilbur/N. Becker Accounting Excellence Award. Although he lives in Memphis, Brown invests heavily in Northeast Ohio. He currently serves on the Advisory Council for Kent State’s College of Business Administration. He also serves on the Davey Tree Expert Company Board of Directors and is an Advisory Board member at Portage County-based Miller Transfer and Rigging Company.

Brown married his high school sweetheart, Paula, 40 years ago. They are blessed with three adult children and two grandchildren.

The Commencement ceremony may be viewed live at www.kent.edu/commencement/webcast.

For more information about Kent State’s Commencement, visit www.kent.edu/commencement.

POSTED: Friday, August 12, 2016 03:50 PM
UPDATED: Thursday, October 10, 2024 10:39 AM

The Kent State University Board of Trustees today established a comprehensive, national search to recruit and select the university’s 13th president.

 

The events of May 4, 1970, placed Kent State University in an international spotlight after a student protest against the Vietnam War and the presence of the Ohio National Guard ended in tragedy with four students losing their lives and nine others being wounded. From a perspective of nearly 50 years, Kent State remembers the tragedy and leads a contemporary discussion and understanding of how the community, nation and world can benefit from understanding the profound impact of the event.

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