Finals 2004 Graduation and Valediction Speakers
Alumnus John Warner, a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Senate, delivered the University of Virginia Commencement Address Sunday, May 16, on the Lawn at U.Va. More about Senator John Warner. Speech transcript.
 
Alumnus Atiim Kiambu (Tiki) Barber, a professional football player and a 1997 graduate of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, addressed the Class of 2004 at Valediction Exercises May 15 on the Lawn at U.Va. More about Tiki Barber. Speech transcript.
 
Stories about Graduating Students
'Child of War' Pasha Will Return Home and Help Rebuild Iraq
May 14, 2004 — When U.S. troops invaded Iraq last year, Rebeen Pasha, an Iraqi Kurd, was glued to the television. Pasha’s interest and concern, shared by many, were more direct and personal than most of his peers. He was watching an assault on the regime that he says murdered his father in 1992. More.
 
Curiosity Drives Mitman's Pursuits
May 14, 2004 — What drives an undergraduate student to perform research in three separate fields, pursue two unrelated majors and start one journal of international affairs? "Curiosity," said Kurt E. Mitman, an Echols Scholar from McLean, Va. More.
 
Students Leave Legacy of Building Relationships and Improving Race Relations
May 14, 2004 — The impassioned efforts of the U.Va. students who established a program called Sustained Dialogue provide a shining example of Margaret Mead’s words. Distressed by the racial tensions and separateness they saw at U.Va., Priya Narayan Parker and Jackie A. Rodriguez Switzer founded Sustained Dialogue in their second year to improve the climate for diversity on Grounds. More.
 
Reverend Nurse: At 52, Valley Minister Feels Call to Care for the Whole Person, Spiritually and Physically
May 14, 2004 — Brad Langdon was in his second job after college, having first been a newspaper reporter, then a communications assistant with the Pennsylvania Medical Society. He thought he might pursue a career in a medical field. More.
 
Leap of a Lifetime: Athlete Kim Turok Jumps a Formidable Hurdle — Life-Threatening Illness
May 14, 2004 — Kimberlee M. Turko, who will receive a Master’s of Education degree in kinesiology-motor learning May 16, is excited about walking down the Lawn – and this time, remembering the experience. More.
 
He’ll Be Back: Adult Education Graduate Studies Adult Education
May 14, 2004 — Gary Beasley, 52, recently graduated from the University of Virginia's adult degree program, and after completion of graduate school, he plans to return to adult education — this time from the provider side. "My focus has become adult education with a strong interest in education policy," he said. More.
 
Hungry to Help: Student Refugee Wants to Improve the Lives of Burma’s Forgotten Children
May 14, 2004 — Wynn LeiLei Nyane is trying to find her place in the world. Born in Burma to a Burmese father and a Malaysian mother, Nyane had to flee Burma in the 1990s with members of her family in the aftermath of a military coup. More.
 
Revitalizing Main Street: Jill Nolt's Plan for Her Hometown High School Makes Front-Page News
May 14, 2004 — Though most people today would agree that the phenomenon of "suburban sprawl" is threatening the existence of our rural landscape, most of us do not know what to do about it. Perhaps, like those in Montgomery County, Pa., we should take a lesson from Jill E. Nolt, whose plan for managing the growth of her hometown high school recently made headlines. More.
 
Peace Corps Bound: Business Major Trades Fast Lane for Slow Pace on Tonga
May 14, 2004 — She should have been thrilled. Last summer, Caty Price sat at a comfortable desk in an office cubicle towards the end of her internship for the Cramer-Krasselt Advertising Agency in Phoenix. She had just been offered a job. More.
 
First in Her Family: Angela Caldwell, a Native American, Overcomes Community Attitudes to Become a Lawyer
May 14, 2004 — Angela Caldwell earned a law degree because people said she could not. More.
 
From Crane's Love of the Cosmos Comes New Era for Stargazers
May 14, 2004 — During Jeff Crane's seven years as an astronomy graduate student at U.Va., he has been up all night many nights operating a console that looks like it could steer the space shuttle. It does aim and operate a sizable telescope. More.
 
Sharlotte Bolyard is Flying High
May 14, 2004 — Sharlotte Bolyard is dealing with an embarrassment of academic riches. The fourth-year student of aerospace engineering was accepted into doctoral programs at the University of Texas-Austin, the University of California-Berkeley, Brown University, MIT (two programs accepted her — mechanical engineering and aeronautics and astronautics), and Cal Tech. More.
 
A Ministry of Medicine
May 14, 2004 — For Joe Jackson, medicine is a calling. "God has directed me in my activities," he said. More.
 
Bombay Bound: Darden Grad to Apply Best U.S. Business Practices to Family Company in India
May 14, 2004 — The last day of class was "bittersweet" for Prashant Prasad, 26, a native of Bombay, India, who is graduating with a master’s degree in business administration from U.Va.'s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. More.
 
Peer Educator Looks Beyond Educating: Health Advocacy Is Next Step for Alyssa Lederer
May 14, 2004 — Alyssa Lederer has spent most of her undergraduate life talking to fellow students about health. A peer health educator for three years, her role in these discussions is generally that of the talker. But for a year-long project investigating sexual health and wellness in sororities on Grounds, Lederer was happy to listen. More.

No 'Cookie-Cutter' Solutions: Family Expert Charmaine Yoest Says Creativity, Flexibility Are Keys to Resolving Work/Family Issues
May 14, 2004 — Charmaine Yoest, a doctoral candidate in U.Va.'s Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics, is an up-and-coming young expert on family policy issues. More.

Reflections On the Road to Enlightenment: Thirteen Years, One Class at a Time, But Who Was Counting?
May 14, 2004 — Sitting in class, listening to my professor's live rendition of a Charlie Parker tune, I tapped my foot and marveled at the mastery of his performance. Then I looked out the floor-t-ceiling windows next to my desk in Old Cabell and beheld the Lawn. I closed my eyes. It seemed like a dream. When the music stopped, I returned my attention to the front of the room. My professor had finished his daily musical intro to our "History of Jazz" course and was beginning his lecture. I really was there. More.

A Childhood Dream Come True for U.Va. Employee
May 21, 2004 — My childhood dream was to attend the University of Virginia after high school. But in 1969, that was not a reality for this poor, black girl from Albemarle County. Today, however, it is a different story, and in May, I will be among roughly 5,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students receiving degrees from the University of Virginia. More.

Connecting Communities: Presentation on African-American History at U.Va. Gets Students Thinking, Talking
May 14, 2004 — The sankofa, a mythological African bird, faces backward but flies forward. In much the same way, U.Va. students Justin Steele and Ermias Abebe have explored their cultural heritage while gaining the tools needed for their future professional success. More.

Sullivan Award-Winners: Part of the Fabric of University Life
May 14, 2004 — Three members of the University community — known for their deep, and often behind-the-scenes commitment to the University — will receive Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards at Valediction May 15. Jessica Belue and Justin Steele, both fourth-year students, were nominated by fellow students, who wrote passionately of their leadership qualities and power to touch and change lives. Alice Handy, U.Va.'s recently retired treasurer, was heralded for her concern for the University's long-term financial welfare and her dedication to protecting the institution's standing as one of the best in the nation. More.