Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., and Brandt Schneider, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will preside over the school’s commencement ceremony at 1:30 p.m. May 10 at the International Cultural Center Hall of Nations, 601 Indiana Ave.

Schneider said commencement is an exciting time for faculty, students and family members.

“Attending graduate school is an exciting and challenging event in a scientist's life,” Schneider said. “Graduate students see their knowledge, skills and professionalism expanded in directions that they would never imagine. We take pride in our students and the preparation they received for their careers.”

Awards to be presented are:

• The 2014 Dean’s Recognition Award for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences — William Hutton Jones


• 2014 Outstanding Graduate Student — Shahriar Absar


• Distinguished Alumni 2013 — Li-Na Wei, Ph.D.

Commencement speaker will be Li-Na Wei, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis. Wei, who holds the Distinguished McKnight University Professorship, earned her doctorate in 1986 at TTUHSC in microbiology and completed post-doctoral training at the Columbia University, where she received an NIH fellowship.

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences awarded the first Master of Science degree in 1975, and its first doctoral degree in 1978. Today they offer programs leading to M.S., Ph.D., and M.D./Ph.D. degrees. A live stream of the commencement ceremony will be available at www.ttu.edu/livestream.

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