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April 30, 2008
RIPON, Wis. – The 142nd Commencement of Ripon College will take place at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 11 in front of Harwood Memorial Union. This year’s theme is “Conservation, Adaptation and Sustainability.”
Several honored guests are scheduled to share the stage with the Class of 2008.
Dr. Peter Shaw Ashton is the official commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient. Dr. Ashton is the Charles Bullard Research Professor of Forestry at Harvard University. He has been director of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard, president of the International Association of Botanical Gardens, a governor of the U.S. Nature Conservancy and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He has received the Award for Environmental Achievement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Sultan Quaboos Prize for Environmental Conservation from UNESCO. He is the author of six books and numerous papers, mainly on the trees and forests of tropical Asia.
Honorary degree recipient Darell Hammond is chief executive officer and co-founder of KaBOOM!, a nonprofit organization that coordinates the construction of playgrounds. Hammond has won numerous national service and leadership awards and has been profiled in several national publications including People, Washingtonian, Fortune, Fast Company and Worth magazines. He has also received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. In addition to his work with KaBOOM!, Hammond serves on the Board of Directors of Independent Sector and Hands on Network and in 2003 was elected as an Ashoka Fellow for being a leader in social entrepreneurship.
Susan P. Eblen of Glen Ellyn, Ill. is the recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award. She is a history and social studies teacher at Glenbard West High School and also teaches a humanities honors course to expose seniors to art, music, literature, history and philosophy with a strong base in cultural literacy. Eblen says she is committed to helping her students develop a liberal arts approach to life and become life-long learners. She has taught at Glenbard West since 1994 and was nominated for the award by Parissa DJangi ’08.
Finally, Owen P. Gleason ’73 and William J. Bohnen ‘67 posthumously will be awarded the Ripon College Medal of Merit.
Owen Gleason spent 12 years on both the Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association Board of Directors, the latter having included a term as president. He is remembered as a generous supporter of the college who, with his wife, Roxanne, began the Gleason Family Presidential Scholarship Endowment in 1997 to help expand the financial assistance program for students. He was a charter member of Ripon’s Partners in the Legacy, a planned giving program. majored in English and history at Ripon and received a law degree from Oklahoma City University in 1976. He was a retired vice president and general counsel of C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.
William Bohnen served as a Trustee of Ripon College for 20 years, including a term as president. He also served his classmates as a class agent, and tirelessly supported the college’s fund-raising efforts as a volunteer. He served a tour of duty in Germany with the U.S. Army and left the service as a captain. He graduated with honors in the middle-management program at Aurora College in 1975 and later became president and owner of Guardian Metal Sales in Morton Grove, Ill. Bohnen also became a charter member of Ripon’s Partners in the Legacy in 1995, and he and his wife, Linda Jensen Bohnen ’68, have supported Ripon’s annual fund for 39 years. They also established an indoor riding stable in memory of his late daughter, Marcia, at the Hanson Center for special needs children in Burr Ridge, Ill.
In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in Wyman Gymnasium, Storzer Center. The decision will be made Sunday morning and posted to www.ripon.edu.
The class of 2008 respectfully asks that members of the Ripon community who live near campus be mindful of the 1-4 p.m. window during which commencement will be held, and to keep loud noises (mowers, chainsaws, etc.) to a minimum during that time.
About Ripon College
Ripon College, founded in 1851, prepares students of diverse interests for lives of productive, socially responsible citizenship. Ripon’s liberal arts curriculum and residential campus create an intimate learning community in which students experience a richly personalized education. Ripon has consistently been recognized as a “best value” and “Best 366 College” by The Princeton Review, a “Best Buy in College Education” by Barron’s, a “Best Liberal-Arts College” by Washington Monthly, and is listed among the 160 best schools in the nation by Colleges of Distinction.
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