IWV
More than 350 degrees and certificates will be conferred at Cerro Coso Community College's commencement exercises Friday, May 13, in the Gymnasium of the Raymond A. McCue Athletic Complex located on the west side of College Heights Boulevard in Ridgecrest.
The ceremony will begin at 6 pm. One of Cerro Coso's largest classes the college will be honoring eligible graduates from the IWV Campus, Kern River Valley Center in Lake Isabella, and the South Kern Center at Edwards Air Force Base. A separate ceremony was held at the Eastern Sierra College Center located in Bishop on May 6.
Ana G. Petrovic has been selected as the Alumni Association's Distinguished Speaker. Ana was born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia. In 1998 she came to the United States as an exchange student to experience American culture, improve her knowledge of the English-language, and finish her senior year of high school. The support provided by her host family (Maria and Dan Mallory) and by the academic community of Cerro Coso Community College have given Ana an opportunity and incentive to continue her higher education in America. She completed the "Honors Program" at Cerro Coso Community College in 2001. Her education and accomplishments at Cerro Coso have opened the doors for her transfer to Whitman College with a full academic scholarship. Ana received a BA in Chemistry (summa cum laude) from Whitman College in 2003. Subsequently, she pursued a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Vanderbilt University, which she earned under guidance of Prof. Polavarapu in 2007. In the summer of the same year, she began her three-year postdoctoral experience at Columbia University, that included teaching an undergraduate class called "Frontiers of Science" as well as further pursuing research in structural investigations of chiral organic inorganic and biomolecules via tandem implementation of chiroptical methods. In September 2010, Ana began working as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), where besides continuing research involvement, she is pursuing her commitment to undergraduate teaching and mentoring.
The Academic Senate has selected four exceptional graduates to address the assemblage: Darryl Moline (AA Liberal Arts, Arts and Humanities emphasis & AA Liberal Arts, Social and Behavioral Sciences); Pedro Santiago (AA Humanities & AA Social Sciences); Rebekah Cash (AA Liberal Arts, Arts and Humanities) all three from the IWV campus, and Michael Kinney (AS, Business Management) from the South Kern campus.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Natalie Dorrell, Public Information (760) 384-6260