The University of Alabama at Birmingham will hold its fall commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in Bartow Arena, 617 13th St. South. At least 800 students will participate in commencement exercises; more than 2,200 students are expected to graduate this semester. .
The doctoral hooding ceremony for those graduates receiving a Ph.D., Dr.P.H., Ed.D., or D.Sc.P.T. will be held at 10:30 a.m. in UAB’s Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. The guest speaker is Gregg Janowski, Ph.D.
George Howard, Dr.PH., former chair of the UAB Department of Biostatistics, will be presented with the 2011 President’s Medal during the commencement ceremony. Howard is the project principal investigator for the largest population-based investigation of its kind, the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke project, and has devoted much of his career to understanding the reasons African-Americans and Southerners are at such extraordinary risk for stroke.
Hector “Dominic” DeSimone, who is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science and communication studies from UAB’s College of Arts and Sciences, will be the undergraduate commencement speaker. DeSimone served as firm director for UAB’s Public Relations Council of Alabama and Public Relations Student Society of America. During his tenure, the organization won the 2011 PRCA Chapter of the Year Award, and he was named the PRCA Michael K. Simmons Student of the Year.
DeSimone served as vice president of Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honors Society. He is a member of the pre-law society and several other organizations. He is the recipient of multiple scholarships including the Wittig Public Relations Scholarship and the Voytek Zubek Political Science Scholarship.
He plans to attend law school and “help shape local, regional and national policy through a career in the public sector.”
Carrie Dunn, J.D., who will receive a master’s degree in health administration from the UAB School of Health Professions, will deliver the post-baccalaureate commencement speech. Dunn received her bachelor’s degree in business, with a concentration in accounting, from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and her doctor of jurisprudence from Indiana University School of Law.
She is an attorney at Lloyd Gray Whitehead & Monroe in Birmingham and has been practicing law for more than 11 years. She has interests in health-care reform and professional liability.