Wash U chancellor to speak at Academy commencement

wrighton

Dr. Mark S. Wrighton

Dr. Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, considered one of the nation’s premier research institutions, will deliver the commencement address Saturday, May 31, during graduation exercises for Northwest’s Missouri Academy of Science, Mathematics and Computing.

The Missouri Academy’s seventh annual commencement begins at 1 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center on the Northwest campus and is open to Academy families, the University community and the public.

Wrighton, a prominent chemist, is Washington University’s 14th chancellor and has served as the institution’s chief executive since 1995.

Under his leadership, the university has achieved significant milestones with regard to improved facilities, resource development, curriculum, internationally recognized scholarship and research and student quality.

Wrighton began his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972 and, from 1981 until 1989, held the Frederick G. Keyes Chair in Chemistry there. He was also the inaugural holder of the Ciba-Geigy Chair in Chemistry and served as head of MIT’s Department of Chemistry from 1987-1990.

Named MIT provost in 1990, he served as the institution’s chief academic officer until accepting the Washington University chancellorship.

Wrighton was a presidential appointee to the National Science Board from 2000-’06, a body that serves as the science policy advisor to the White House and Congress and as the primary advisory board for the National Science Foundation. He is a past chair of the Business-Higher Education Forum and the Association of American Universities.

The author of hundreds of articles in professional and scholarly journals, Wrighton holds numerous patents and co-authored the book, “Organometallic Photochemistry.

Wrighton received a bachelor’s degree with honors in chemistry from Florida State University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1972. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Philosophical Society.

For information regarding this year’s commencement ceremonies for the Missouri Academy of Science, Mathematics and Computing, call 660.562.1960 or e-mail ddino@nwmissouri.edu.

The Missouri Academy is an accelerated, residential program for young people academically talented in science and mathematics during what would be their final two years of high school. It is located on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. Students who complete the program receive their high school diploma from the Academy and an associate of science degree from the University.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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