Around 1,500 graduates from the class of 2005 are expected to receive their diplomas on April 30 during Grand Valley's commencement ceremony. The ceremony runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids.
U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra will deliver the commencement address and will be honored with an honorary doctorate of public service degree. Dixie L. Anderson will be given the Distinguished Alumni Award and Daniel Vaughn will be given the Outstanding Educator Award.
Hoekstra is serving his 13th year in Congress, representing communities on the shores of Lake Michigan from Allegan to Benzie counties. His district includes Grand Valley State University's campuses in Allendale and Holland and its research centers in Muskegon.
In 2004, Hoekstra was named chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In this role, he leads Congressional oversight on issues relating to the U.S. intelligence community. Prior to his election to Congress, he worked for 15 years at Zeeland, Mich.-based office furniture manufacturer Herman Miller Inc.
Hoekstra lives in Holland, Michigan, with his wife, Diane, and their three children. He is a native of the Netherlands, and immigrated to Michigan with his family at the age of 3. He attended Grand Valley State University and holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Hope College and a master's of business administration from the University of Michigan.
Anderson, '72 and '78, is the executive director of the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan. The council was founded in 1949 by a group of Grand Rapids community leaders to educate people in the region about other countries, cultures and regions of the world, as well as providing a forum for discussion of critical foreign policy issues facing the nation.
Through her efforts, the local council has hosted such prominent world figures as South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Mary Robinson, president of the Republic of Ireland and U.N. High commissioner for Human Rights and L. Paul Bremer, former special presidential envoy to Iraq. Through her vitality and leadership, the local council was named by the World Affairs Council national office as Best Small Council in the Nation in 2002.
Anderson earned a bachelor's degree in social studies and a master's of business administration from Seidman College of Business. She has been strong supporter of Grand Valley's alumni programs, helping establish the Seidman College of Business Alumni Association and serving on the Alumni Association Advisory Board. She received the Alumni Service Award in 1991.
Vaughn, a professor of physical therapy, has been a member of Grand Valley's faculty since 1996. He was selected in a survey of graduates for the honor of Outstanding Educator.
Before coming to Grand Valley, Vaughn worked as a physical therapist in private practice in Greenville, S.C. He was cited for his dedication to the advancement of his students, his energy and passion for excellence in physical therapy, and his ability to skillfully blend practical experience with theory in the classroom. His expertise is in manual therapy, a specialty arm of physical therapy that focuses on working with the spine and extremity mobilization.
A native of Chattanooga, Tenn., Vaughn is a graduate of East Carolina University. He earned a clinical master's degree in physical therapy from the Ola Grimsby Institute. He is working on his doctorate in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise physiology at Michigan State University. He and his wife Pam live in East Grand Rapids with their three children. He works with youths, coaching YMCA and youth league basketball and Little League Baseball, as well as girls' softball.
Traverse City Commencement set for May 2
Grand Valley's Traverse City commencement will be at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, May 2 at the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme. Provost Gayle
Davis will be the guest speaker, and about 50 students are expected
to receive diplomas.
