Monday, June 4, 2007
Degrees and awards presented at Commencement 2007
 Comedian Bill Cosby, the keynote speaker. |
The 110th commencement at Carnegie Mellon University took place May 19-20, 2007. Bill Cosby, an award-winning comedian, actor, author and recording artist well known for his commitment to education, delivered the keynote address at the main ceremony on the morning of Sunday, May 20 in Gesling Stadium with good weather conditions. Five other honorary degree recipients joined him on the commencement stage: Helen S. Faison, Wilton A. Hawkins (E'48), Paolo Lugari, Gerald C. Meyers (E'50, TPR'54), and Earl Wild (A'37). Catherine Scudera, a Science and Humanities Scholar who received a bachelor's degree in psychology and creative writing with a minor in religious studies, was the student speaker. More than 2,100 undergraduate and graduate degrees were conferred at this year's commencement.
The hooding ceremony for Doctor of Philosophy in Physics occurred during the evening of Saturday, May 19. The five recipients in attendance are pictured below.
 Dr. Adam Lichtl (left) with advisor Prof. Colin Morningstar. |
 Dr. Gauri Kulkarni (left) with Prof. Fred Gilman. |
 Dr. Michael Watkins (right) with advisor Prof. Roy Briere. |
 Dr. Daniel Bock (left) with advisor Prof. Jeffrey Peterson. |
 Dr. Vivek Tiwari (left) with advisor Prof. Manfred Paulini. |
The distribution of diplomas took place in Wean Hall 7500 during the afternoon of Sunday, May 20. The degrees in physics conferred during the ceremony are listed below.
 Dr. Daniel Bock (center) receives his diploma from Prof. Manfred Paulini (left) and Prof. Fred Gilman (right). |
Doctor of Philosophy in Physics
| Daniel Bock | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | Superconducting Nanowire Bolometers |
| Advisor: | Jeffrey Peterson |
| Yi Ding | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | Phase Transformation of FePt Nanoparticles |
| Advisor: | Sara Majetich |
| Alexander Fore | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | Lattice Boltzmann Model for Dynamics of Nearly Immiscible Fluids in Porous Media |
| Advisor: | Robert Sekerka |
| Panchapakesan Ganesh | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | First-Principles Study of Liquid and Amorphous Metals |
| Advisor: | Michael Widom |
| Young-Rae Kim | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | New Probes of Dark Matter and Dark Energy |
| Advisor: | Rupert Croft |
| Zebulun Krahn | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | A Partial Wave Analysis of Eta and Eta' Meson Photoproduction using CLAS at Jefferson Laboratory |
| Advisor: | Curtis Meyer |
| Gauri Kulkarni | |
| Thesis title: | Measurements and Models of the Three Point Correlation Function of Luminous Red Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey |
| Advisor: | Robert Nichol |
| Adam Lichtl | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | Quantum Operator Design for Lattice Baryon Spectoscopy |
| Advisor: | Colin Morningstar |
| Kivanc Sabirli | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | Confirmation of Self-Similar Evolution in the X-ray Luminosity-Temperature Scaling Relation of Clusters of Galaxies |
| Advisor: | Kathy Romer |
| Madhur Sachan | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | Magnetostatic Interactions in High Ordered Self-assembled Structures of epsilon-Co Nanoparticles |
| Advisor: | Sara Majetich |
| Vivek Tiwari | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | Measurement of the Bs anti-Bs Oscillation Frequency Using Semileptonic Decays |
| Advisor: | Manfred Paulini |
| Michael Earl Watkins | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | Inclusive Measurement of Upsilon(1S) Decays to Open Charm Hadrons |
| Advisor: | Roy Briere |
Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Physics
| Ahmet Kaya | |
|---|---|
| Thesis title: | High Frequency Characterization of Magnetic Recording Heads |
| Advisor: | James A. Bain |
 Ryan Carroll (center) receives his diploma from Prof. Manfred Paulini (left) and Prof. Fred Gilman (right). |
Master of Science in Physics
Adam AzarchsBenjamin Beppler
John Bulava
Ryan Carroll
Llili Christoph
Christopher Hefferan
Charles Hogg III
Yossef Korang-Beheshti
Chia-Wei Kuo
Chao-Hsien Kuo
Shiu Fai Li
Shiang Yong Looi
Luxmi
Elisa Pueschel
Benjamin Sauerwine
Prabhanshu Shekhar
James Thome
Brian Vernarsky
Peng Zheng
 Phil Lawson (second from left) receives his diploma from Profs. Ghosh (left), Gilman (second from right), and Garoff (right). |
Bachelor of Arts in Physics
| Bridget Lewis | (additional Major in Human-computer Interaction) |
Bachelor of Science in Physics
| Craig Bonnoit | |
| Michael Bueti | |
| Charles Capps | (additional Major in Mathematical Sciences) |
| Siu Kwan Mike Cheng | |
| Olav Christianson | |
| Sean Conroy | |
| Kent deVillafranca | (Minor in Computer Science) |
| Diana Garrity | (additional Major in Professional Writing) |
| Gunnar Gissel | |
| Nathaniel Greenstein | |
| Alexander Greenwood | (Biophysics track with a Minor in Biological Sciences) |
| Jonathan Kaufman | (Astrophysics track) |
| Karl Kempe | (Chemical Physics track with a Minor in Business Administration) |
| Erica Krivoy | (Minor in Hispanic Studies) |
| Philip Lawson | |
| Richard Lee | |
| Stephanie McMahon | (Minor in Mathematical Sciences) |
| Brian Newman | (Astrophysics track with Minors in Mathematical Sciences and Philosophy) |
| Justin Pye | (expected in August 2007) |
| Jared Rinehimer | |
| Alexander Rutgers | (additional Major in International Relations; expected in December 2007) |
| Joseph Stockhausen | |
| Sukrit Suksombat | |
| Michael Shapiro | |
| Elijah Visbal | (Astrophysics track) |
| Antony Vydrin | (Biophysics track) |
Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematical Sciences
Daniel James DeCapriaRyan McNeive
Uchupol Ruangsri
Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics
| Robert Williams | (Computational Physics track with a Minor in Computer Science) |
Bachelor of Science in Materials and Science Engineering
Esther P. Yu (additional Major in Physics)Minor in Physics
Benjamin ChandlerBrian Chin
Ioan Ifrim
Gavin Kanga
Takuya Kondo
Pauline Law
Alejandro Lince
Mathew Nulph
Bharat Patel
Christopher Pride
Samantha Smith
Claire Tomesch
Glenn Willen
 Esther Yu (center) receives her awards from Prof. Barry Luokkala (left) and Prof. Hugh Young (right). |
Honors and Awards
Craig Bonnoit
University Honors
College Honors
Phi Kappa Phi
Charles Capps
University Honors
Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Beta Kappa
Sean Conroy
College Honors
Alexander Greenwood
University Honors
College Honors
Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Beta Kappa
Jonathan Kaufman
College Honors
Zebulun Krahn
Graduate Student Service Award (Honorable Mention)
Erica Krivoy
College Honors
Philip Lawson
College Honors
Bridget Lewis
University Honors
Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Beta Kappa
Brian Newman
University Honors
Jared Rinehimer
University Honors
College Honors
Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Beta Kappa
Uchupol Ruangsri
University Honors
Phi Beta Kappa
Sukrit Suksombat
University Honors
Elijah Visbal
University Honors
College Honors
Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Beta Kappa
Antony Vydrin
University Honors
College Honors
Robert Williams
University Honors
Esther Yu
University Honors
College Honors
Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Beta Kappa
National Science Foundation Graduate
Research Fellowship
Richard E. Cutkosky Award
Jared A. Rinehimer Degree recipients pose for a group photograph. |
 Stephanie McMahon (center) and fellow degree recipients ponder their futures while glancing over the graduation booklets. |