Graduation 2017

Class of 2018 is ready to keep changing the world

Andrews University’s spring graduation will take place May 5–7. In order to provide more seating for graduates’ families, Commencement is split into three separate services by school/college. This year the standard schools for each service has changed; please take note of when your graduate will be marching to ensure you attend the appropriate service. All services will take place at Pioneer Memorial Church, unless otherwise noted.

Graduation weekend events begin Friday evening, May 5, with Consecration and continue through the weekend, finishing with commencement services on Sunday, May 7. For details on the various weekend events and each program’s time and location, see below or visit andrews.edu/graduation.

Ryan Hayes, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, will offer the Consecration address titled “Got to Go THROUGH It!” on Friday, May 5, at 8 p.m.

Hayes has spent nearly a decade working in industry. His experience includes business development, patent portfolio management, and scale-up of chemical-based technologies within the life science reagent, personal care, agricultural, coatings and polymer additive industries. Hayes was director of business development for four and a half years with Dendritic Nanotechnologies (DNT) located in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, before accepting teaching responsibilities at Andrews University. Before DNT, he was employed as a research scientist at Lynntech, Inc. in College Station, Texas, where he assisted with numerous projects to develop and commercial new chemical sensing technologies. Ryan is married to a microbiologist named Suzi, and they have three young children: Carter, Christiana and Cadance.

On Saturday, May 6, Alvin Kibble, vice president for the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists and honorary degree candidate, will present the Baccalaureate address for both the 9 a.m. (graduate) and 11:45 a.m. (undergraduate) services. His presentation is titled “So, Now What?” Overflow seating for both services is in PMC’s Youth Chapel.

Kibble received a BA in theology from Atlantic Union College in 1967, completed his Master of Divinity at Andrews in 1969, a master’s in sacred theology from New York Theological Seminary in 1974 and is currently a Doctor of Ministry student at Cordon Conwell Theological Seminary. His broad experience and innovative approach to ministry as a pastor, conference secretary, president and division leader have contributed to his ability to counsel and effectively lead each organization with which he has been connected. As the son of an early leader (his father was one of the early presidents of the Lake Region Conference) in the regional work, he brings not only a breadth of knowledge about the growth and maturation of the Black work in America but also brings a unique knowledge and expertise in the history of the Adventist church as a growing organization. 

Additional departmental services are planned for Friday and Saturday. They are as follows:

Friday, May 5
School of Business Administration’s Ethics Oath Ceremony
11 a.m., Garber Auditorium, Chan Shun Hall

Teacher Dedication Service
5 p.m., Newbold Auditorium, Buller Hall

Saturday, May 6
Seminary Dedication Service
4 p.m., Seminary Chapel

Department of Religion & Biblical Languages Senior Dedication
4 p.m., Newbold Auditorium, Buller Hall

Department of Nursing Pinning Ceremony
4 p.m., Pioneer Memorial Church

Department of Public Health & Wellness Dedication Service and Reception
6 p.m. Howard Performing Arts Center Lobby

Department of Social Work Recognition Service
5:30 p.m. University Towers Auditorium

Open House for Architecture Graduates
6 p.m., Architecture Resource Center

Also on Saturday, May 6, a vespers tribute to parents, faculty and students will take place at 8:30 p.m. Immediately following vespers, there will be a President’s Reception for graduates and their families in the Great Lakes Room of the Campus Center.

On Sunday, May 7, Lisa Beardsley-Hardy, director of the Department of Education at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, will be the speaker for the first Commencement service at 8:30 a.m., for graduates from the School of Education and the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. Her address is titled “Hold Fast!”

Beardsley-Hardy completed two years of theology at Newbold College, England, and graduated with a Bachelor of Theology from the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies in the Philippines. She earned graduate degrees in public health, educational psychology and management, and has held faculty positions at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, the University of Illinois, Andrews University and Loma Linda University. Her administrative experience includes department chair of health education at Toivonlinnanseminaari, Finland; assistant dean for medical education & evaluation, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria; associate vice president for academic affairs, Andrews University; and vice chancellor for academic affairs, Loma Linda University. She served as a chaplain at Methodist Medical Center of Illinois and Lakeland Medical Center, Michigan and holds ecclesiastical endorsement as an educational chaplain and an associate healthcare chaplain.

Twesigye Kaguri, founder and CEO of The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project and honorary degree candidate, will be the featured speaker for the 11 a.m. Commencement service on Sunday, May 7. His address is titled “Faith Is Why I Do What I Do.” This service is for students graduating from the College of Arts & Sciences.

Kaguri earned his bachelor’s degree in social sciences with a concentration in public administration from Makerere University in Uganda in 1993. He then served as Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, obtained a degree in general studies from the School of Continuing Studies and earned his certificate in fund raising management at The Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Kaguri speaks four languages fluently: English, Luganda, Runyakole Rukinga and Swahili, and can converse in French. He has also appeared before the United Nations, was featured in Time Magazine’s “Power of One” Series and in 2012 was named a CNN Hero. Kaguri has received numerous awards for his service and community involvement, including honorary recognition by the government of Uganda for his exemplary work in building the Nyaka school in 2003, Ugandan of the Month, the Citizen Award and the Heifer Hero Award. He is the author of “The Price of Stone” and “A School for My Village.”

Olen Netteburg, medical director and physician at Bere Adventist Hospital in Chad and honorary degree candidate, will be the featured speaker for the 2 p.m. Commencement service on Sunday, May 7. His address is titled “So You Know All the Mysteries…Now What?” This service is for students graduating from the School of Architecture & Interior Design, School of Business Administration, School of Distance Education & International Partnerships and School of Health Professions.

In 2001, Netteburg graduated from Andrews University with degrees in biophysics and mathematics education and German studies, with religion and chemistry minors. After graduation, Netteburg spent six months teaching English and religion in South Korea, then six months traveling around Africa, then spent the next year teaching high school physics and German. He was admitted to Loma Linda University School of Medicine and proceeded to graduate in 2007 in the top five percent of his class. In 2010, Netteburg and his wife, Danae, moved to Chad, where he serves as the director of the hospital and also as one of the treating physicians, functioning as pediatrician, internist, ultrasonographer, anesthesiologist and, on rare occasion, surgeon.

Danae Netteburg is also an honorary degree candidate. She completed a bachelor’s degree in biology with a chemistry minor at Southern Adventist University in 2002. During her time at Southern, she took a one-year hiatus to serve as a student missionary in Zambia, which solidified her desire to be a missionary physician like her parents. From 2002–2006, she attended Loma Linda University where she earned her medical degree, and for the next four years she studied at Baystate Medical Center, obtaining her OB-GYN residency. Since 2010, Danae has been certified with the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Since completing residency in 2010, Danae has found herself on-call 24/7 for more than six years. She has personally been responsible for the delivery of thousands of babies, as well as hundreds of Cesarean-sections and hysterectomies, dozens of fistula repairs and many other medical and surgical interventions for women in Chad. Feeling God’s calling to a country named “The Worst Country in the World to be a Woman,” with the highest maternal mortality rate and neonatal mortality rate, Danae has done her part to treat women and train the next generation of maternal-child healthcare providers, empowering women whenever and wherever she works. Olen and Danae are the proud parents of four children.

For more information about graduation weekend, visit andrews.edu/graduation.