SIUE to graduate more than 1,820 during Spring Commencement
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The two-day Spring Commencement at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was held Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8.
A total of 1,824 students were eligible to graduate during spring SIUE's commencement ceremonies for the School of Nursing, the School of Business and the Graduate School at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 7; the School of Education and the Graduate School at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 8; undergraduates of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), 1 p.m. Saturday; and the schools of
Pharmacy and Engineering, the Graduate School and CAS graduate students only, at 5 p.m. Saturday, all in SIUE's Vadalabene Center.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, May 8, the SIUE School of Pharmacy conducted its annual hooding ceremony for graduating candidates in Meridian Ballroom, on the first floor of SIUE's Morris University Center. This was the second class to graduate from the four-year program which began in 2005. The SIUE School is the only one in downstate Illinois. The hooding ceremony reminds students of the professionalism they must maintain throughout their careers. The graduating candidates also recited the Pharmacist's Oath.
As part of its annual commencement tradition, SIUE bestowed the SIUE Distinguished Service Award this year upon Charles Tosovsky, president of Home Nursery Inc., an award-winning leader in producing field and container-grown nursery stock and roses. Ralph Korte, who founded Korte Construction Co., a highly successful firm in Highland that has grown to become a national company, received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. Korte received the award and gave the commencement address at the 9 a.m. and the 1 p.m. ceremonies on Saturday, May 8.
The SIUE Honorary Degrees and Distinguished Service Awards Committee actively solicits nominations from members of the University community to obtain a diverse pool of qualified candidates for these awards. A candidate for an Honorary Degree may be any person who has made significant contributions to cultural, educational, scientific, economic, social, and humanitarian or other worthy fields of endeavor.
Tosovsky has been a dedicated business owner and active community participant for decades. Home Nursery, founded in 1921, continues to be a family owned and operated business, serving a 12-state territory. Tosovsky is past president of the Illinois Green Industry Association (1980), a current member of the Edwardsville Rotary Club, and a sustaining member of the Greater Edwardsville Area Community Foundation, donating toward various funds and scholarships in support of the community. His contributions are both present and future-oriented, as exemplified by the April 2008 establishment of the Chuck and Jean Tosovsky Family Fund for the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI). In support of research and special projects that will perpetuate the horticultural industry for a strong proponent of higher education who has contributed a great deal of time and support to SIUE for more than 30 years, Tosovsky has been a member of the SIUE Foundation Board of Directors since 1977, serving as president from 1995-1997, and is currently a senior director.
Korte served as chairman of the Board of the Korte Company, an eco-conscious construction company, until his retirement in November 2008. He launched the company in 1958 and subsequently enrolled at SIUE. A strong supporter of the value of higher education, Korte pursued his own education on nights and weekends through the SIUE School of Business, graduating with a bachelor of science in 1968.
The Korte Company has grown into a nationally recognized industry leader with more than 1,600 projects completed across the nation, including office buildings, schools, munitions plants, stadiums and more.
Korte also has been involved in the creation and implementation of a number of new initiatives on the SIUE campus. Guided by his passion for learning and helping others, Korte was instrumental in promoting the idea for the Department of Construction Management in the SIUE School of Engineering. He believes business skills, combined with strong construction and design knowledge, are essential to creating leaders in the construction industry.
Subsequent projects included the construction of SIUE's Ralph Korte Stadium; the donation of the Ralph and Donna Korte Classroom in the SIUE School of Business; the creation of the Ralph and Donna Korte Fund for Leadership and Innovation in Business Education in 1999; and the launch of the SIUE Construction Leadership Institute in 2004. Four years later, the Korte Company established the Ralph Korte Endowed Scholarship for students entering the Construction Management Program at SIUE. He and his wife, Donna, also helped fund SIUE's B. Barnard Birger Hall; subsequently, a wing of the building is named in their honor.
The names of graduate candidates from Illinois, and their degrees, are listed below. Students graduating with special honors are indicated as follows: * = Cum Laude, ** = Magna Cum Laude, *** = Summa Cum Laude, + = Honors
Scholars: Chester - Bachelor of Science, Zara Jin Graham; Pinckneyville - Bachelor of Science, **+Alexandria Hawkins, Sara Celeste Smyth; Red Bud - Bachelor of Science, Stephanie L. Amann, Kyle Matthew Kueker, *Elizabeth Marie Parker, Casey Renee Stinemetz; Master of Arts - Colin W. Neumeyer; Doctor of Pharmacy, Daniel Gerard Grohmann; Sparta - Bachelor of Arts, *Lana L. Barber; Bachelor of Science in Acct, ***Benjamin David Schnelle; Steeleville - Bachelor of Science, Heather Marie Jeffers, Jared Michael Preuss, Master of Arts in Teaching, Stephanie Ramsey