Grads, families celebrate spring commencement June 9

Approximately 1,790 undergraduate and 210 master’s students graduated from Western on Saturday, June 9. 

Alumni Rick Anderson (’73, Accounting), Bob Watt (’72, Teaching Certificate) and Mike Bartanen (’74, B.A., History; ’76, M.A., Speech) spoke to graduates and their guests at three Commencement ceremonies at Western’s  Carver Gymnasium.

Anderson, the speaker at the 9 a.m. ceremony, is the CEO of Moss Adams, LLP, the largest accounting firm headquartered on the West Coast. He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the WWU Alumni Association, as well as the recipient of the Distinguished Executive Award from the College of Business and Economics.

Watt, the speaker at the 12:30 p.m. ceremony, most recently worked as the Vice President for Global Corporate Citizenship and State and Local Government Relations at Boeing, and is now retired. Watt’s love of learning new things and  his passion for early childhood education are common themes throughout his long career.

Bartanen, the speaker at the 4 p.m. ceremony, is the chair of the Department of Communication and Theatre at Pacific Lutheran University. Bartanen teaches courses in Conflict and Global Peace Building, Argumentation, Group Communication, Peace Journalism and Media and the World.

In addition to the keynote speaker, a WWU student spoke at each commencement ceremony as well.

Andrew Kangiser spoke at the 9 a.m. ceremony. Kangiser graduated with a double major in Accounting and Finance and a minor in Economics. He was also a volunteer Accounting tutor and President of Western’s chapter of Beta Alpha Psi. After studying for the CPA exams this summer, Kangiser will work for Grant Thornton this fall.

The 12:30 p.m. speaker was Saraswati Noel, who graduates this summer Cum Laude as the Presidential Scholar from the Woodring College of Education. At Western she discovered her love for teaching and working with all children, particularly historically marginalized and oppressed youth which is why she chose to study Secondary Math Education with a minor in Sociology.

Michael Pegis, the Outstanding Graduate for the Department of Chemistry, spoke at the 4 p.m. ceremony. Pegis’ achievements range from his award-winning poster during Western’s Scholars Week in spring 2011 to receiving the Paul Woodring and Oscar Olson scholarships in 2012. Pegis will begin the University of Washington graduate program in July, and plans to earn his doctorate in Physical Inorganic Chemistry.