MIT will award about 2,500 degrees to some 2,250 undergraduates and graduate students at the Institute's 136th Commencement Friday, June 7, in Killian Court.
The guest speaker will be James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank.
About 1,110 bachelor's degrees will be presented, 800 master's degrees, 370 MBAs and 220 doctorates. About 700 women will receive degrees. Some students receive more than one degree.
Graduates may pick up guest tickets in the Information Center (Room 7-121) from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through May 31, and during extended hours from June 3-6. Each graduate PARTICIPATING IN THE CEREMONY is entitled to four tickets. A ticket is required for each guest in the seating area, including children three years and older. Students must show both a photo ID and a regalia rental receipt from the MIT Coop to receive their tickets. Selling Commencement tickets is not permitted. On Commencement day, family members may pick up tickets by showing a graduate's MIT ID card from 8 to 10 a.m.
The formal activities begin at 9:45 a.m. with the traditional academic procession from 77 Massachusetts Ave. to Killian Court led by the chief marshal, L. Robert Johnson (S.B. 1963), the 2001-02 president of the MIT Association of Alumni and Alumnae. The exercises will be held in Killian Court regardless of the weather.
President Charles M. Vest will present the S.B., S.B./S.M., S.B./M.Eng. and advanced degrees in the School of Science, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Whitaker College of Health Science and Technology. Provost Robert A. Brown will award the advanced degrees in the schools of architecture and planning; engineering; humanities, arts and social sciences; and the Sloan School of Management.
A brass ensemble will perform in Killian Court prior to the ceremonies. The MIT Chorallaries will lead the singing of the national anthem.
Vest will deliver the traditional charge to the graduates. Other speakers include Dilan Seneviratne, president of the Graduate Student Council, and Sudeb Dalai, president of the Class of 2002. John Wuestneck, MIT's Protestant chaplain, will give the invocation.
The ceremonies may be viewed on closed-circuit television in selected rooms in buildings 1, 2 and 4; rooms 10-250, 16-160, 26-100, 34-101, 56-114, E25-111, E51-145 and E51-149; Kresge Auditorium and Kresge Little Theater.
A reception will be held beneath a tent in Steinbrenner Stadium following the exercises.
HOODING CEREMONY
Chancellor Phillip L. Clay will preside at a special hooding ceremony for doctoral degrees candidates Thursday, June 6, at the Johnson Athletic Center at 1 p.m. Tickets are not required for the hooding ceremony.
ROTC
A commissioning ceremony for Air Force and Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) graduating seniors is scheduled for Friday, June 7, at 5 p.m. under the masts of the U.S.S. Constitution at the Charlestown Navy Yard Historical Park. The speaker will be Rear Adm. Paul Sullivan, director of submarine warfare requirements in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. About 25 MIT graduates are expected to be commissioned as officers in the Army, Air Force and Navy.
FACULTY REGALIA
Faculty members who have made rental arrangements for regalia with the Commencement Committee office are reminded that robes will be available for pickup in Room 8-119 on June 6 and 7 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. All regalia must be returned to the Information Center in Room 7-121 by Tuesday, June 11.
PARKING
Details on parking and transportation will be announced.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 22, 2002.
