Approximately 750 graduates will receive diplomasat Harding University commencement exercisesSaturday, May 5. Two separate ceremonies will be held in the Benson Auditoriumat 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. President David B. Burks will present diplomas to allgraduates.
Graduates in the 9a.m. ceremony include students from the Collegeof Arts and Humanities, College of Bibleand Religion, Paul R. Carter College of Business Administration, Cannon-ClaryCollege of Education and the HonorsCollege. The 1 p.m.ceremony will be for students graduating with degrees from the Colleges ofAllied Health, Nursing, Pharmacy and Sciences.
Dr. MichaelClaxton, associate professor of English, will be the keynote speaker for the 9a.m. ceremony, and Dr. Hewitt W. Matthews, dean of the Mercer UniversityCollege of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Atlanta, Ga.,will be the keynote speaker for the 1 p.m. ceremony.
Dr. MichaelClaxton joined the Harding faculty in 2003. As associate professor of English,he teaches composition, world literature, British literature, Shakespeare andliterature of faith. He graduated with his bachelor’s in art from Oglethorpe Universityand received his Ph.D. from Universityof North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His enthusiasm forthe subject he teaches has made him a popular teacher and earned him theTeacher Achievement Award in 2009 and American Studies Institute Teacher of theYear in 2007. In 2011, he was awarded the Alpha Chi Faculty Scholar awardrecognizing a combination of academic scholarship and classroom teaching. Mostrecently, he was voted by students to receive the 2011-12 Petit Jean yearbookdedication.
Dr. Hewitt W.Matthews is dean of the Mercer University College of Pharmacy and HealthSciences in Atlanta, Ga. On Tuesday of this week, Dr, WilliamUnderwood, president of Mercer, announced the appointment of Matthews as seniorvice president for health sciences effective July 1.
Matthews receiveda Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from ClarkAtlanta Universityand a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from Mercer University.He received his master’s and doctoral degrees in pharmaceutical biochemistryfrom the University of Wisconsin in Madison.He did postdoctoral work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention inthe Hospital Infectious Disease program.
Matthews has morethan 100 publications, given more than 300 national and internationalpresentations, and been awarded more than $2 million in research grants andcontracts. He has received a number of teaching awards including theOutstanding Teacher Award from the Mercer University College of Pharmacy andHealth Sciences and the V. Carlton Henderson Award from College’s AlumniAssociation in recognition of outstanding personal and professionalachievements that have added distinction to the practice of pharmacy.
With an enrollmentof more than 7,100 students, Harding is the largest private university in Arkansas and attractsmore National Merit Scholars than any other private university in the state.Harding also maintains campuses in Australia,Chile, England, France,Greece, Italy and Zambia. For more information visit www.harding.edu.
