Popular Professor Chosen as Commencement Speaker

Utah State University has selected one of its most well-loved and highly honored teachers as commencement speaker when the university holds its first fall commencement Dec. 18.

           

Mark Damen, an associate professor of history and theatre, is the featured speaker at the Dec. 18 graduation ceremony. He will address both undergraduate and graduate students at the joint ceremony.

           

Damen received the Carnegie Foundation’s CASE Teacher of the Year award as Utah’s best professor in 1998, the same year he was designated Teacher of the Year in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. He was twice named a Utah State Mortar Board Outstanding Professor, and he has received numerous accolades over the years from students for both his academic credibility and the healthy dose of complementary entertainment he brings to teaching. 

          

Damen was selected from among a list of outstanding professors on campus, according to President Kermit L. Hall. Hall said he wanted the fall commencement to have a different flavor than the spring graduation ceremony, so he decided to look within the institution for a person who could capture the essence of students’ experiences and who also could send them forth with a message of merit.

           

 “I wanted someone special for the fall commencement who understood what graduation means – personally -- for our students,” Hall said. “We have a deep pool of professors on campus who students have loved, learned from and, in some cases, been terrorized by at finals time! Dr. Damen knows what our students have come through, as only someone from within the ranks can know.”

 

Damen teaches a wide range of courses at Utah State, including the Ancient Near East, pre-modern Western Civilization, Theatre History, Playwriting and all levels of Latin and Greek language.

 

Sydney Peterson, assistant provost and chair of the Commencement Committee, said Damen received unanimous support from committee members involved in the search for a commencement speaker.

 

 “Dr. Damen, as anyone who knows him can attest, is someone who definitely will keep the attention of the crowd,” she said. “But, more important than just his entertaining style, he also is someone who is deeply passionate about learning and education. He will summarize their years here and entertain them, but he will leave them with a profound message too.”