Kent State University will hold its summer Commencement ceremonies at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (MAC Center). Kent State will confer 1,636 degrees, including 851 bachelor’s degrees, 462 master’s degrees, 74 doctoral degrees, 227 associate degrees and 22 educational specialist degrees.
The 9:30 a.m. ceremony is for those receiving bachelor’s degrees. The speaker for this ceremony is Alejandro Galioto, CEO and founder of True-Course Aviation Insurance, based near Los Angeles, California.
Galioto, a 1998 graduate of Kent State with degrees in history and aerospace technology, has an extensive aviation insurance background, having worked in the industry for more than a decade. He began his career as an aviation claims adjuster, handling complex aviation claims and aerial disasters, and this experience enabled him to become an aviation insurance coverage expert. As an aviation insurance broker, Galioto has handled insurance for large aerospace manufacturers, financial institutions, international airlines, charter operators, municipalities and corporate flight departments.
Galioto earned an MBA from Pepperdine University and is a commercial-rated pilot with multiengine and instrument ratings. He is a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Helicopter Association International, the National Business Aviation Association, the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association and the Aviation Insurance Association.
Galioto is the father of two, an entrepreneur, a sports fanatic and an avid aviator.
The ceremony for those receiving master’s and doctoral degrees is at 1:30 p.m. The speaker for the afternoon ceremony is Kent State President Beverly Warren.
Warren became Kent State’s 12th president on July 1, 2014. As the university’s chief executive officer, Warren oversees one of the nation’s largest university systems. Kent State’s eight campuses provide more than 300 academic programs to about 42,000 undergraduate and graduate students from throughout Ohio and the nation, and from approximately 100 countries. One of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio, the university employs more than 5,700 full- and part-time faculty and staff.
Prior to coming to Kent State, Warren served as provost and senior vice president at Virginia Commonwealth University. She spent 14 years at Virginia Commonwealth University, starting as a professor and head of the School of Education’s Division of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and later served as dean of the School of Education. Before joining Virginia Commonwealth University, she held faculty positions at Smith College, Auburn University, Appalachian State University and Lander University. In all these posts, Warren earned a reputation as a consensus-builder and effective communicator.
Warren is an internationally respected and widely published scholar in the fields of education and exercise physiology. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She was elected to the ACSM Board of Trustees and is a former president of its southeast chapter.
A North Carolina native, Warren holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; a master’s degree from Southern Illinois University; and two doctorates – an Ed.D. in the administration of higher education from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in exercise physiology from Auburn University.
The Commencement ceremonies may be viewed live at www.kent.edu/commencement/webcast.
For more information about Kent State’s Commencement, visit www.kent.edu/commencement.
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Media Contacts:
Eric Mansfield, emansfie@kent.edu, 330-672-2797
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595