To accommodate a larger audience, the Opening Convocation will be held in the Recreation Center of the Fieldhouse. The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, August 24. GVSU President Mark Murray will address the university community for the first time since he took office on July 1.
Shirley Fleishmann, professor in the Padnos School of Engineering, will be the keynote speaker. Fleishmann taught at the U.S. Naval Academy before beginning her tenure at Grand Valley in 1989. She has received numerous teaching awards including being recognized as the 1998 Michigan Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Others scheduled to speak at the convocation include Patrick Thorpe, chair of the University Academic Senate; and Ben Witt, president of the Student Senate. Murray also will present various awards to faculty and staff members.
A reception will precede the ceremony at 9 a.m. in the atrium of Henry Hall. Faculty and staff members who plan to participate in the processional should meet in that area at 10 a.m.
