ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University’s Dec. 16 Commencement ceremony will
celebrate the graduation of nearly 330 students at Winthrop Coliseum.
The speaker at the 11 a.m. ceremony will be Professor of English John Bird, Winthrop's
2017 Distinguished Professor. He returns from retirement to deliver a speech on the
“Words of Wisdom-Rarely Found in Commencement Speeches” and admits he missed his own
undergraduate ceremony at Appalachian State University.
President Dan Mahony will preside at the event, where master’s or specialist degrees
will be awarded to around 75 graduate degree candidates and undergraduate degrees
to more than 250 candidates. Those who earned their degrees in August are welcome
to participate.
Mahony also will present Psychology Professor Cheryl Fortner-Wood with the 2017 James
Pinckney Kinard and Lee Wicker Kinard Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award
is given annually to a faculty member who has demonstrated a dedication to teaching
and is highly regarded on campus by faculty and students.
Fortner-Wood joined the Winthrop faculty in 1998 and teaches graduate and undergraduate
courses, as well as directs the university’s McNair Scholars Program. Winthrop learned
this fall that the program’s federal grant to help prepare underserved students for
graduate school has been renewed for the next five years.
For those who cannot attend, the Dec. 16 event will be available via live stream
on YouTube. Please visit the university's homepage and click on the "Commencement
Information" graphicto access the video and other important information regarding
Commencement.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at
803/323-2404 or longshawj@winthrop.edu.
