William Woods University in Fulton held commencement ceremonies Dec. 13 and 14.
Area graduates included Deborah Francis, California, Specialist of Education degree;
Rachel Hees, Jamestown, Master of Education degree; and Crystal Miller, Clarksburg a Master of Business Administration degree.
Altogether 545 graduates were recognized at the December ceremony. A total of 293 December degrees were conferred. Another 252 graduates whose degrees were conferred in August were eligible to participate in the winter ceremony. A combined total of 885 students in all disciplines have graduated from WWU in the past 12 months.
Degrees earned by December and August graduates combined are three Associate of Arts, nine Bachelor of Arts, one Bachelor of Fine Arts, 78 Bachelor of Science, 107 Master of Business Administration (MBA), 229 Master of Education (M.Ed.), 114 Education Specialist (Ed.S.) and four Doctor of Education degrees.
In addition to students from the Fulton campus, students from cohorts in 21Missouri communities will receive their diplomas: Belton, Blue Springs, Bowling Green, Branson, Cape Girardeau, Chillicothe, Columbia, Dexter, Grain Valley, Hannibal, Independence, Jefferson City, Kansas City, Macon, Marshall, Monett, Neosho, New Madrid, Perryville, Salem and Tipton.
Nicole Ebersole Langston, a graduate of William Woods University, spoke at the Friday commencement ceremony for students receiving graduate education degrees. Langston is principal of Southwest Early Childhood Center, the home of the non-traditional pre-kindergarten and elementary programs for Jefferson City Public Schools. The center serves about 1,200 children each school year.
Dr. Julian Hertzog, professor of education and psychology at WWU, spoke at the Saturday ceremony, addressing undergraduate and Master of Business Administration degree recipients. Hertzog, who came to William Woods in 1976, has been rewarded through the years for his dedication to teaching. He received the Dads' Association-Louis D. Beaumont Distinguished Professor Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1989 and 2012. In 1996 he received the Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.