The 2019 commencement ceremony is Thursday, May 9. Whether you're planning to attend the ceremony or want to avoid traffic implications, here's everything you need to know. Be part of the story by using the hashtag #ForeverBuffs; watch the action live at the commencement site or the CU Boulder Facebook page. Media should visit the commencement site for additional resources.
Below, read about just a few of the talented, motivated and innovative students who are graduating and starting on their next adventure. Congratulations, Buffs!
Paula Abitia
Graduating in the first cohort of master’s in higher education students this spring, Abitia says flexibility to continue working full-time and comradery with other education professionals were key draws to the program.
Ava Berrier
The first-generation student from Pueblo West is graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in integrative physiology, putting her one step closer to attending medical school.
Esmeralda Castillo-Cobian
A passionate advocate and student of students, Castillo-Cobian has brought her experiences as a first-generation college student to her studies at CU Boulder and into her K-12 classrooms.
Ben Erwin
As a former high school teacher and advocate for community empowerment, Erwin realized he had a passion for educational equity. Master’s in hand, he will continue to shape the educational field as a policy researcher.
Nick Fisher
Buff football fans know Fisher as No. 7, the starting safety. But there’s more to the story on how the “old Nick” transformed into a successful student with an advertising degree who “will make a difference.”
Adán Garcia
Garcia, graduating with a dual bachelor’s and master’s in ethnic studies and education, has dedicated much of his time at CU Boulder to unraveling Eurocentrism in education.
Curtis Gile
Engineers Without Borders led Gile to Rwanda, where he developed a system for collecting clean water, and earned him Mechanical Engineering’s outstanding graduate for international engagement award.
Claire Lamman
The College of Arts and Sciences outstanding graduate turned out to be much better at science than she’d thought possible. With physics and astronomy degrees in hand, she heads to Harvard this fall.
Nathan Mpiana
This finance and accounting major will be working at Goldman Sachs in New York as an investment banking analyst, crediting Leeds’ Investment Banking seminar for exposing him to the fundamentals of corporate finance and investment banking.
Sean Okonsky
Struggling with depression and substance use that had led to academic probation, the chemical engineering student found support and success on campus—now he’s headed to graduate school at Penn State.
Valeria Praga-Rodríguez
An educator, mother, advocate and learner, Praga-Rodríguez worked to support English learners of all linguistic backgrounds during her time in the Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity master’s program.
Aidan Rafferty
After graduating with a bachelor’s through ATLAS in December, Rafferty landed a job developing and enhancing national security space tools to support satellite operations for military, commercial and scientific missions.
Lindsey Ritter
With a master’s in hand and plans to attend DCP Midstream’s Leadership Excellence Accelerator Program in Denver, Ritter is eager to forge a new path as a business leader executing high-level and long-term strategies.
Maren Rosenbach
As a law student studying ethics and compliance, Rosenbach learned how the law can be preventative, rather than reactive, in creating ethical business cultures.
Daniel Senior
After serving in the Air Force, college life didn’t challenge Senior the way he’d hoped; so he sought out a job in University Libraries, where his supervisors say he always went above and beyond.
Serene Singh
The Rhodes and Truman Scholar—among many other impressive accolades—will commence graduate studies at Oxford University, aiming to one day serve as a Supreme Court justice.
Doug Smith
A Marine Corp veteran and self-taught illustrator and painter, this ATLAS student always raises the bar by going the extra mile on projects. Upon graduation, Smith will continue working as a front-end web developer.
Shane Smith
With a political science degree and experience as the battalion commander of CU Boulder’s Army ROTC unit, Smith will continue training as a logistics officer before joining the 16th Combat Aviation Regiment at Fort Lewis.
Lina Takahashi
The College of Media, Communication and Information’s outstanding graduate will head to Stamford, Connecticut, this summer to work with NBC Sports as an Olympics production fellow.
Marc Thomson
The College of Engineering and Applied Science’s outstanding graduate thrived in two tough majors, all while participating in research and internships at world-class labs.
Sarah Withee
Amidst a fruitful career as a Japanese language professor and technologist, Withee joined Generation Z and millenial students to become an electrical engineer.
Humsini Acharya, Andrew Plum, Timothy Visos-Ely & Max Watrous
Four mechanical engineering grads are just getting started in their mission to bring the walker into the 21st century. The team hopes to make their prototype widely available soon.
Donna Auguste, Simone Hyater-Adams, Brittany Kos, Hyunjoo Oh & Abigale Stangl
The dissertations of the five 2019 graduates—all women—of ATLAS’s technology, media and society doctorate program emphasize empowering groups that tend to be less engaged in engineering fields.
