Bowling Green State University’s summer commencement will be the first official event to be held in the
university’s new Stroh Center.
Based on a forecast for inclement weather Saturday morning, the decision was made this morning to switch
the event from the lawn of University Hall.
BGSU’s 271st graduation ceremony will begin at 9 a.m., and will also be the first at which President Mary
Ellen Mazey will preside.
The total number of diplomas being awarded is 1,135, including 537 degrees granted through the Graduate
College. Seventy-two undergraduates will receive their degrees with honors signifying meritorious
academic achievement.
This summer’s commencement speaker is Dr. Jong Pil Lee, the recipient of BGSU’s 2011 Distinguished
Alumnus Award. He received his master’s degree from the university in 1967 and a doctorate from the
University of Alberta in Canada.
Lee teaches at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, where he has mentored thousands
of students and teachers in mathematics and has been the recipient of numerous honors statewide.
In 2005, he was one of 10 professors nationwide and one of only two mathematics professors to be honored
at the White House with the U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and
Engineering Mentoring, an award jointly administered by the White House and the National Science
Foundation.
Lee has founded numerous organizations including the Institute of Leadership Development for Teaching
Mathematics and Technology, the Institute of Creative Problem Solving for Gifted and Talented Students,
the Institute of Mathematics Enrichment for High-Ability and High-Potential Women, supported by the
National Science Foundation, and the Long Island Mathematics Scholarship Foundation for minority high
school seniors.