Once again, the Graduate School had a successful commencement in December 2023. Along with recognizing over 600 graduates for earning master’s and doctoral degrees, we recognized five university distinguished professors and Provost Taber who is retiring in early January.
To honor their outstanding contributions to teaching, research, and service, five K-State faculty members were named University Distinguished Professors (UDP), the highest honor the University can bestow. The new University Distinguished Professors are Drs. Caterina Scoglio (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Jesse Nippert (Biology), Jun Li (Chemistry), Ari Jumpponen (Biology), and Allen Featherstone (Agricultural Economics). These faculty members and their teams have made significant contributions to research in areas such as the spreading of infectious diseases, energy conversion and storage, biosensor development, nanomaterial growth and composite materials synthesis, the effects of fire on soil and soil-dwelling organisms, agricultural economics, grassland and savanna ecology, and response to climate change.
At the December commencement ceremony, the Graduate School also bid farewell to Provost Charles Taber and thanked him for his service to K-State and to higher education, as he is retiring.
Taber earned his first graduate degree thirty-seven years ago. This began his rewarding career in teaching, research, and service, and higher education leadership.
Dr. Taber’s research interests are in political science, cognitive psychology and computer science. He built his research and teaching career around the production and the limitations of knowledge.
In his commencement address, Provost Taber shared three guiding pillars with the graduates as they moved into the next phase of their professional journey. He encouraged them to “live personal and professional lives of integrity, valuing truth even when it’s not convenient.”
Secondly, he charged them to celebrate the beauty in life and in others.
Lastly, he said, “Hold these truths to be self-evident. Live ethical professional and personal lives in the pursuit of justice.”
Following these recognitions, the highlight of the commencement ceremony was celebrating the graduates and their success in earning master’s and doctoral degrees. Of great interest at every graduation ceremony is the portrait of the graduating class, which we are sharing with you.
The class of Fall 2023 of 626 graduates is composed of:
- 531 masters and 95 doctoral students
- 63% identify as females and 37% identify as males
- 47% graduate students are from Kansas, 53% are from other places
- 51 are international students
- The youngest master’s student is 21 and the oldest is 62
- The youngest doctoral student is 26 and the oldest is 64
- 29 master’s students and two doctoral students self-report as active-duty service members or veterans
- The graduate students who travelled the furthest to pursue graduate studies at K-State are from Sri Lanka (9285 miles), and Cambodia (8662 miles).
View the full Fall 2023 commencement program.