With the semester coming to a close, the university is making the final preparations to the spring commencement ceremony with the announcement of this year’s speaker.
This spring commencement speaker will be Ronald Rittenmeyer, the chief executive officer of Expert Global Solutions Inc. Although there will be separate ceremonies for undergraduate and graduate students, Rittenmeyer will be addressing both ceremonies.
“He is a very impressive man; he has many years of accomplishments,” Dean of Students Mark Allen said. “He is a very inspirational sort of person and will deliver a great message to our students.”
Rittenmeyer, a Kingston, Pa., native now living in Plano, Texas, graduated from Wilkes in 1972 with a degree in commerce and economics. He will receive a Doctorate of Humane Letters at the honoring him for his leadership and distinguished contributions to the fields of business and industry.
Expert Global Solutions is a leading global provider of business process outsourcing services, primarily focused on accounts receivables management and customer relationship management.
Prior to his service at Expert Global, Rittenmeyer served in a variety of executive positions with Electronic Data Systems Corp., including chairman, president and CEO.
“Whether they are delivered by politicians, business folks or accomplished business folks or business folks, I think the message is that there are opportunities out there for graduates to apply what they spent so many years doing,” Allen said.
Wilkes will also award an honorary degree to Pauline Montgomery at the morning graduate commencement ceremony. Montgomery is the owner of Montgomery Pharmacy in Hughesville, Pa.
She began pharmacy practice in her hometown of Hughesville in 1959 and has been practicing ever since. Montgomery served on the Board of Pharmacy of the Commonwealth for several years and currently serves as the State Board of Pharmacy’s Officer for Probable Cause Screening Committee.
This year graduation will return to campus with two separate ceremonies for both graduate and undergraduate students.
With graduation returning to campus, administrators said that it will add a personal element to the day.
“For the first time it is exclusively an undergraduate and graduate ceremony,” Allen said. “There may be nuances to Mr. Rittenmeyer’s speech that tailors to each ceremony.”
Associate Dean of Student Affairs Barbara King said that with the ceremony returning to campus, it would not be possible without the help of the Wilkes maintenance staff and Judi Wienckoski, assistant for student affairs.
“I am thrilled that we are back on campus,” King said. “They put in a lot of extra hours and are absolutely vital to this ceremony.”
Both ceremonies will be held at the Marts Gym. The first ceremony for graduate students begins at 10 a.m. and the second ceremony for undergraduate students begins at 2 p.m. Doors for each ceremony will open one hour before the start time.