Top Stories
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Congratulations, Class of 2007!
Bucknell awarded 820 undergraduate and 25 graduate degrees in a May 20th commencement ceremony that featured best-selling author and award-winning journalist Bob Woodward as keynote speaker. [full story]
As if on cue, overcast skies gave way to sun-streaked blue just as the Rooke Chapel bells signaled the start of the traditional processional at 10:00 am. from the Christy Mathewson Memorial Gateway to the Academic Quadrangle.
President Mitchell told the commencement crowd of 8,000 that recent events at Virginia Tech had underscored the importance of close communities of learning. “Our compassionate response to this crisis was swift and genuine. Simply put, we all need each other,” he said. “We are all responsible for each other. Students, please know that you will always be part of the Bucknell community.”
Woodward, who attends just one commencement event each year, was presented with Bucknell’s Award of Merit. He spoke about his role in covering Watergate in the 1970s, the long-term impact of the Iraq War, and the importance of finding work – and co-workers - that one loves.
A slide show with audio features the sights and sounds of the University’s 157th Commencement.
Weekend activities for the graduates and their families included the traditional senior class candlelighting ceremony, an ROTC commissioning ceremony for Bucknell’s six graduating cadets, a interdenominational baccalaureate service, “Grill on the Green,” the Commencement Celebration tent party, and fireworks.
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Our thriving research programs
What do Celtic studies, optical illusions, and nuclear magnetic resonance have in common? Each is an area of special interest for Bucknell professors and students, who have enjoyed recent recognition and success in their fields. [full story]
Visual illusion places third in international contest
Collaborating with Presidential Fellow Emily Knight ‘08, Bucknell professor Art Shapiro enjoyed his second win in three years at the Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest on May 12 in Sarasota, Fla.Knight was the only undergraduate participating in the contest and earned high praise from vision scientists for her presentation, “Swimmers, Eels and Other Gradient-Gradient Illusions.” The third-place winner was another Shapiro-Knight collaboration, “Where Has All the Motion Gone?”
The top 10 illusions presented at the event are viewable online.More illusions can be seen at Shapiro’s website.
State-of-the-art NMR equipment arrives
The Bucknell chemistry department's nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facility, which features two new state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers, recently opened in theRooke Chemistry Building The new instruments were made possible in part by a $475,000 National Science Foundation grant authored by David Rovnyak, assistant professor of chemistry, and other Bucknell faculty. Bucknell is one of three undergraduate universities in the country to have such sophisticated instrumentation.
Students present at prestigious medieval conference
The 42nd International Congress of Medieval Studies, held atWestern Michigan University Kalamazoo, Mich., saw Bucknell undergraduate and graduate students giving papers that were well received by the crowd at the gathering of more than 3,000 scholars representing more than 25 countries. Albert McMullen '09 and Molly Clay 'M08, who study with Professor Alf Siewers in the English department, gave papers at a session titled, "Beyond the Boundaries: New Approaches to Celtic Studies." In a rare feat for student presenters, they were invited to include their papers in a book collection based on the session.
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Scholars enroll through Community College, Posse programs
The new Bucknell Community College Scholars Program is officially under way, thanks to a grant of nearly $1 million. [full story]
This fall, 16 outstanding community-college students will transfer into Bucknell through this rigorous academic program, which was funded by a grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Recent recipients of associates degrees, they are among the top graduates of Bucknell’s partner schools in the program: Community College of Philadelphia, Garrett College, Harrisburg Area Community College, Lehigh Carbon Community College, and Montgomery County Community College.
In addition, Bucknell's successful participation in the renowned Posse Scholars Program has expanded to include students from the Boston area as well as Washington, D.C. Twenty-one new Bucknell Posse Scholars will arrive this fall as part of the Class of 2011, bringing the University’s total Posse enrollment to 42. .
The Posse Foundation is a national college access and leadership program that identifies, recruits, and trains groups of outstanding young leaders from public schools in urban areas. After an intense interview and assessment program, the selected students receive merit leadership scholarships from highly selective partner colleges across the country.
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Bison win 13th Presidents Cup
On the strength of six Patriot League championships in 2006-07, Bucknell has claimed its 13th Patriot League Presidents’ Cup in the 17-year history of the conference. [full story]
“Winning the Presidents’ Cup for the 13th time in 17 years is a tremendous accomplishment, and we commend Bucknell’s student-athletes and coaches for continuing to set the pace for excellence,” said Bucknell President Brian C. Mitchell. “The honor shows the commitment our hard-working student-athletes have made to excel athletically as well as academically.”
The Bison racked up 126.25 points in the Cup standings, the most ever for Bucknell and the second most in league history - just .75 points shy of Army’s 13-year-old standard.
In addition, Bucknell swept the Patriot League all-sports trophies for both men and women, winning the women’s trophy for the 13th time and the men’s for the sixth time.
In 2006-07, Bucknell captured Patriot League titles in women's cross country, men's soccer, women's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's golf and women's rowing.
Bucknell has now won 65 championships since the Patriot League's inception in 1990-91. The six championships this year equals the second-best total in Bison history.
“It is satisfying to know we can have this remarkable athletic success in such a competitive league while also holding true to our student-athlete model,” said John Hardt, director of athletics and recreation. [Read more about the Presidents' Cup]
