The celebration for the Class of 2021 combined virtual ceremonies with in-person events for graduates and some guests. CAS departments held individual gatherings across campus while the College of Law and AGSM arranged diploma pickup events.
Willamette honored 291 undergraduate students and featured the much-beloved Chaplain Karen Wood as commencement speaker. Wood, who had for several years given the commencement invocation, joined the class in saying goodbye to the university. She will retire in July after 19 years of service.
The College of Law graduated about 115 students on or after May 16 and featured speaker Oregon Supreme Court Justice Adrienne C. Nelson, who in 2018 became the first Black person to sit on the state’s highest court and on any appellate state court.
AGSM recognized 86 graduates and five others who received their Certificate in Data Science. Their ceremony featured CEO of Abom Optics Jim Fitzhenry MBA/JD’81.
Willamette Academy celebrated its largest class ever — 30 graduates — and nine have committed to attending Willamette University this fall. Willamette graduate Raymond White '12, who works in information services at Salem Health, gave the keynote address.
Emeriti Faculty
AGSM
Professor of Management and Global Human Resources Lisbeth Claus — 18 years of service
Professor of Marketing Elliot Maltz — 22 years of service
Professor of Psychology Jim Friedrich — 29 years of service
Professor of Psychology Sue Koger — 28 years of service
Professor of Economics Don Negri — 31 years of service
Professor of Spanish Patricia Varas — 29 years of service
Associate Professor of Religious Studies Xijuan Zhou — 24 years of service
Photo galleries and video recordings
The online ceremonies for the colleges have been recorded and are currently being edited. They will be posted online, likely on Willamette's YouTube channel, when they are completed. Check the Commencement webpage for updates.
Event photos are available for free download online. Here are a few images from the weekend's festivities.
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