Commencement
March 10, 2024
Kerry Alys Robinson, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, to serve as undergraduate commencement speaker; receive honorary degree
From pandemic-required online learning as first-year college students in 2020, through mask-wearing in 2021 classrooms, to the completion of four-year undergraduate degrees this spring — the indomitable University of Portland (UP) Class of 2024 will celebrate with family, friends and faculty mentors at the University’s annual Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 5 at UP’s Chiles Center.
The University will confer degrees on approximately 730 undergraduates in its schools of business, education, engineering, nursing and College of Arts and Sciences. The undergraduate ceremony will cap a weekend of commencement activities on The Bluff, which include the University’s Graduate School Commencement, the School of Nursing & Health Innovations Pinning Ceremony and the ROTC Commissioning Ceremony.
During the undergraduate ceremony, the University will present honorary doctorates to five distinguished servant leaders, including 2024 Commencement Speaker Kerry Alys Robinson, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA). The University’s highest honor, the Christus Magister Medal, will be given to Sister Donna Markham, O.P., Ph.D., who preceded Robinson as President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA (see below for detailed information on UP’s 2024 commencement speakers and honorees).
“Here on The Bluff, we have embraced anew our calling to be the University of, for, and with Portland and the wider world,” said President Robert D. Kelly, Ph.D. “Our 2024 commencement honorees have evinced lives of unparalleled service and transformational impact. I am thrilled that our graduates, their families and our entire UP community will have the chance to celebrate these extraordinary individuals.”
Undergraduate Commencement: Sunday, May 5, 10:00 a.m. at Chiles Center. Degrees conferred for UP’s Pamplin School of Business, School of Education, Shiley School of Engineering, School of Nursing & Health Innovations and College of Arts and Sciences. Speaker — Kerry Alys Robinson
Commencement Weekend Ceremonies:
UNDERGRADUATE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER AND HONORARY DEGREE —PUBLIC SERVICE
Kerry Alys Robinson — In August 2023, Robinson began her service as President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, a network of 168 agencies that serve people, families and communities in need while advocating for justice in social structures. Prior to joining CCUSA, Robinson was the founding Executive Director of Leadership Roundtable, which is dedicated to promoting excellence in management, finances and human resource development of the Catholic Church. Robinson, a member of the Leadership Roundtable Board of Trustees, previously served as Executive Director of the Opus Prize Foundation and as director of development for Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale University. Robinson authored the prize-winning book, Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy, and A Spiritual Call to Service.
CHRISTUS MAGISTER MEDAL
Sister Donna Markham, O.P. Ph.D. — Receiving the University’s highest honor, the Christus Magister Medal, Sister Donna Markham retired as President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA in July 2023. She was the first woman to lead CCUSA, and for more than four decades was engaged in tireless work to reduce poverty and provide care for the most vulnerable in society. A board-certified clinical psychologist, Sister Donna’s previous leadership roles include serving as President of the Behavioral Health Institute of Mercy Health in Cincinnati, President and CEO for Southdown Institute in Ontario, Canada, and Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation.
GRADUATE SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
Kay Toran ’64, serves on the UP Board of Regents and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University in 2012. For 25 years, she has served as President and CEO of Volunteers of America Oregon, a social services organization devoted to improving the lives of Oregon’s children, families and senior citizens. Through her career, Toran has served in leadership roles across nonprofit, education and government sectors.
HONORARY DEGREE – HUMANE LETTERS FOR MERITORIOUS UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Jim Berchtold ’63 — A member of UP’s Board of Regents, Jim Berchtold, a retired senior vice president for U.S. Bank, continues to advance the legacy he created alongside his late wife and University Regent Amy Dundon-Berchtold. Through their generous philanthropy, the University’s state-of-the-art academic center, Dundon-Berchtold Hall, opened in 2019. It serves as home to the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation & Applied Ethics. In 2023, Berchtold announced an $18 million estate gift that will primarily fund scholarships and tuition assistance for future UP students.
HONORARY DEGREE – HUMANE LETTERS
Reynold Verret, Ph.D. serves as President of Xavier University of Louisiana, the only Historically Black and Catholic college or university in America, founded by St. Katharine Drexel. As Provost of Savannah State University and Wilkes University and Dean of Arts and Sciences at University of the Sciences, Dr. Verret has promoted interdisciplinary conversation between the humanities and the sciences. A biochemist and immunologist, Dr. Verret has worked tirelessly toward broader representation in the STEM disciplines and health professions.
HONORARY DEGREE – PUBLIC SERVICE
Andrew Mendenhall, M.D. ’94 serves as President and CEO of Portland-based Central City Concern (CCC), one of the region’s leading organizations that provides pathways to self-sufficiency through interventions in poverty and homelessness. Mendenhall joined CCC in 2017 and became its Chief Medical Officer in 2018. Prior to that, he founded HealthWorks NW, an outpatient integrated treatment program.
The Honorable Adrienne Nelson, United States District Court, Oregon. Judge Adrienne Nelson served on the Multnomah County Circuit Court, the Oregon Supreme Court and was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in 2023. Judge Nelson is the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge in Oregon history.
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