Dan Montello, the Chair of the UCSB Department of Geography, acted as emcee for our reception party and award ceremony on behalf of graduating Geography majors on June 13. The following is a rough transcript of his comments during the proceedings:
As some of you know, the Geography Department at UCSB is nationally ranked in the top 5 and can lay claim to being #1, depending on how you examine the ranking data. This is due to our outstanding faculty and the support of our skilled and dedicated staff. Our quality students also critically contribute, and now I want to recognize their efforts and talents in some detail.
Graduating today brings to a finale the process of formal education that started almost 20 years ago in kindergarten. For many of you, it has been a long and interesting road with many curves and bumps and unexpected people and events, sort of the giant ball of string – or of life. We know you made some good decisions and some not so good, and we also know that chance played its hand in you standing here today. We think (and hope) your decision to come to UCSB and study geography will prove to be one of your best decisions, or at least your luckiest.
Graduating today also begins the process of a job search and the development of a career, with a good chance that career will incorporate geography is some way, whether its focus be on the natural earth, on culture and economics, or on the technical skills for interpreting and communicating earth-referenced information. Geography strikes me as one of the richest, most applicable, and most intellectually stimulating of all majors.
We know that society faces increasing challenges, ranging from environmental pollution, natural disasters, and global warming to feeding the hungry, designing more energy efficient cities and transportation, and unleashing the power of geographic information to make our world a better place, while supporting our humanity. In all of these cases and more, geography’s potent blend of the natural, the human, and the technological put it squarely on task. Your degree in Geography is, thus, like your entrance password to the world. Of course, there’s always graduate school! Whatever your future, we wish you wisdom, good fortune, contentment, and the joy to be found in service to others.
Finally, we all recognize that you have not arrived here alone – your parents and other family members supported you, pushed you on, and may have even cooked you a few meals and washed a few loads of your laundry. I have no doubt that every one of them is very proud of you today
You also had your friends. The friends you make and the experiences you share with them is one of the most special things about attending the university. I know they were for me; to this day, I still have fairly regular contact with 5 or 6 of them, and I don’t even use Facebook.
And let’s not forget your professors, your Teaching Assistants, and the staff members who helped you in ways you may not even be aware of. Personally, I know that teachers and advisors at all levels of my education were among the most inspiring and important role models in my life. I suspect you might say the same.
We are honoring several specific students today for their high achievements as Geography majors, but I want to enthusiastically acknowledge and express my appreciation to all of our graduating majors today. This year’s class includes 69 students, 11 of whom earned the Bachelor of Science degree, 35 a Bachelor of Arts degree with a GIS Emphasis, and 23 the Bachelor of Arts degree. 22 of these have earned the Outstanding Achievement in the Geography Major Award, and 4 of them the Distinction in the Major Award.
With that, let’s give out some awards:
- SAMANTHA C. YING GAMMA THETA UPSILON (GTU) SCHOLARSHIP: The Samantha C. Ying GTU Scholarship is made possible by Killian and Joan Ying who created the award in honor of their daughter Samantha upon the occasion of completing her PhD. Samantha Ying had an outstanding undergraduate career at UCSB, graduating with a BS in both Microbiology and Physical Geography in 2004. She received her PhD from Stanford’s Department of Environmental Earth System Science in 2011. The Samantha C. Ying GTU Scholarship is used to support undergraduate students based on the criteria of academic achievement and compelling family/personal circumstances. Highest consideration is typically given to those students who are active or contributing members of the UCSB Geography Club. This year’s $1,000 Samantha C. Ying Scholarship was awarded to Daniel Villicana.
- CHAIR’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN GEOGRAPHY: This is awarded to the graduating senior who has majored in Geography and has attained the highest overall grade point average, namely Eric Ahlgren.
- DISTINCTION IN THE MAJOR AWARD: Distinction in the Major is awarded to students who are graduating with an overall GPA of at least 3.5, with a Geography GPA of at least 3.6, and who undertaken independent study projects, research assistanceships, and/or graduate-level studies. Four students share this award: Eric Ahlgren, Warren Kunkler, Evan Thomas, and Daniel Villicana.
- OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN GEOGRAPHY: Awarded to students graduating with a grade point average of at least 3.5 in upper-division geography classes or have otherwise been nominated by a faculty member for demonstrated academic performance. Twenty-two of this year’s 69 graduating seniors have earned this award: Eric Ahlgren, Yelizaveta Aleksyuk, Ryan Allen, Kevin Bibby, Edwin Cheung, Anna Ferguson, Timothy Jacobs, Benjamin Koff, Warren Kunkler, Ansel Lundberg, Elizabeth McBride, Trevor Merback, Alexandra Motyka, Mladen Popovic, Taylor Roberts, John Solly, Evan Thomas, Daniel Villicana, Nancy Yu, Dalin Wang, Min Zhang, and Qingyun Zhang.
Editor’s note: Check out the photos taken at the reception here. Photo credits: Richard Weinberg and Lauren Brous.
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