Kent State University held its Summer 2017 Commencement ceremonies for the Kent Campus on Saturday, Aug. 19, at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (MAC Center). Kent State conferred 1,422 degrees, including 908 bachelor’s degrees, 427 master’s degrees, 67 doctoral degrees and 20 educational specialist degrees.
Across the university’s eight-campus system, 1,765 students graduated from Kent State this summer, including those receiving associate degrees.
Baccalaureate Degree Ceremony
The baccalaureate degree Commencement ceremony began at 9:30 a.m. The speaker for this ceremony was Kent State alumnus Robert M. Archer, CEO and owner of Kent Watersports and its branded companies. Kent Watersports has acquired 34 companies and divested only three. These companies make and sell more life jackets than anyone else in the world. The companies also sell water skis, wake boards, wake surfers, recreational water-inflated water tubes, ropes, stand-up paddle boards, knee boards, snow boards, ballast bags and branded apparel. Archer serves on the Ashland YMCA Board of Trustees, the Huntington Bank Regional Advisory Board and the Ashland University Board of Trustees. He is involved in scholar-athlete and scholar-musician scholarships in New London and Ashland, Ohio. Archer earned his Master of Business Administration from Kent State in 1961. He and his wife of 60 years, Janet, have three children — Pamela, David and John – as well as seven grandchildren.
Advanced Degree Ceremony
The 1:30 p.m. ceremony recognized advanced degree graduates receiving their master’s, doctoral and educational specialist degrees. The speaker for this ceremony was Dennis Cuneo, J.D., former senior vice president of Toyota Motor North America. After leaving Toyota, he formed his own consulting firm, DC Strategic Advisors LLC, which has advised Silicon Valley high-tech firms, multinational companies and economic development agencies in the U.S. and Canada. He is also a partner in Fisher & Phillips LLP, a national law firm. Cuneo sits on the boards of two Fortune 500 companies that are major auto suppliers, AK Steel and BorgWarner. He also serves on the boards of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, a leading automotive think tank, and SSOE, a privately held engineering and construction management firm with offices in North America and Asia. Cuneo formerly served as board chair of the Cincinnati Branch of the Federal Reserve, held gubernatorial appointments in California, Kentucky and Mississippi, and was on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers, where he chaired the HR Policy Group. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Kent State in 1973 and sits on the National Advisory Board of the College of Business Administration at Kent State. Cuneo and his wife, Bonnie, reside in the Reno, Nevada, area.