General Anita Gallentine among BGSU commencement speakers

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Bowling Green State University will celebrate its 276th graduation in three ceremonies in the Stroh Center on Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4. The total number of diplomas being awarded is 2,092, including 380 degrees granted through the Graduate College.

Commencement exercises for the Graduate College and the colleges of Health and Human Services, Musical Arts and Technology will begin at 7 p.m. Friday.

The College of Arts and Sciences and BGSU Firelands will hold commencement at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Ceremonies for the colleges of Business Administration and Education and Human Development will begin at 3 p.m.

At the Friday evening ceremony, former BGSU Trustee J. Robert (Bob) Sebo of Salem, Ohio, will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration. Sebo earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from BGSU in 1958 and went on to a successful career in business, retiring as senior vice president of Paychex, a payroll accounting firm that now serves about 560,000 clients.

Named one of BGSU’s 100 most prominent alumni during the University’s 2010 Centennial celebrations, Sebo has donated more than $5 million to his alma mater for athletic and music scholarships, a lead gift to build the Sebo Athletic Center, and support over the 10 years of the Sebo Series in Entrepreneurship. He was inducted into BGSU’s Dallas-Hamilton Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame in 2008.

BGSU alumnus Kurt Ronn will address the students at the Friday commencement. Ronn founded the national recruitment firm HRworks in 1998, serving many high-profile national clients. He contributes regularly to national media outlets and is a nationally recognized expert on employment and entrepreneurial topics. Ronn is a member of several corporate and community boards, and supports local causes through CHARITYworks Foundation, the charity arm of HRworks. He graduated from BGSU in 1982, and married his college sweetheart, Christine Nazar.

Speaking at the College of Arts and Sciences and BGSU Firelands ceremony will be General Anita Gallentine. Gallentine graduated from BGSU in 1997 and earned her commission through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 620 at BGSU in 1977. Her 35-year military career includes four years of active duty, 13 years in the Air National Guard and 18 years as an individual mobilization augmentee. She was promoted to colonel in 1998, to brigadier general in 2004 and to major general in 2009. She retired from the Air Force in 2012 as a highly decorated veteran.

Philip Weller will be the speaker for the colleges of Business Administration and Education and Human Development. A 1970 BGSU graduate, Weller is a managing partner in the global law firm DLA Piper’s Dallas office. He is a prominent real estate practitioner in Texas, focusing on real estate acquisitions, dispositions, finance, development, general finance transactions and private equity transactions. He established his practice in 1975, and has become widely recognized in his field.