Stockton Hosts Fall Graduation Sunday

In a little over 24 hours, the will add 869 names to its list of alumni.

Stockton will hold its Fall Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, Dec. 18, highlighted by the degree conferral ceremony at 1 p.m. at the Sports Center, the big blue building located adjacent to parking lot 4, just off Vera King Farris Drive.

Stockton College President Herman J. Saatkamp will present diplomas to 869 degree candidates, including 108 advanced degree candidates, in eight academic schools, Stockton announced. Those schools are: Arts and Humanities, Business, Education, General Studies, Graduate and Continuing Studies, Health Sciences, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The keynote speaker for the Commencement will be Dr. Lynn Stiles, Professor Emeritus of Physics.Stiles has a Ph.D in Experimental Physics from Cornell University, where he graduated in 1969. He was a research physicist at E. I. DuPont in the Engineering Physics Laboratory and taught at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Swarthmore College, according to a release from Stockton. He joined the faculty at Stockton in 1973.

Stiles helped develop the current General Studies curriculum and academic calendar, among other features that distinguish the college. According to Stockton, he served as Dean of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for four years and as coordinator of Energy Studies for over 25 years.

He has written several articles about energy conservation and alternative energy use in buildings. He has taken part in several of the school’s energy projects, including the geothermal heat pump system, fuel cell, energy efficiency systems, and the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage system, which is the first commercially viable system in the country.

He has represented the United States on the International Energy Agency Executive Committee on Energy Conservation through Energy Storage since 1995, and has served on various experts groups on Underground Thermal Energy Storage since 1994. He has worked with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Innovative Technology and the Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium, as well as industry groups in promoting sound design and installation of GHP and Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage systems, according to the college.

Dr. Jennifer Barr, Professor of Business Studies, is the Faculty Grand Marshal. Dr. Michael Frank, President of the Faculty Senate and Professor of Psychology, will address the graduating class on behalf of the faculty.