UW–Platteville will host its 196th commencement ceremony at Williams Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday. 

Friday’s ceremony will feature the School of Graduate Studies and the School of Business and will begin at 7 p.m. 

Saturday’s ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. with the College of Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture. The College of Liberal Arts and Education ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m., and the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science ceremony will be held at 4 p.m.

There will be 87 graduate candidates, and the School of Business will include 127 bachelor’s degree candidates.

Joseph Sigwarth, a business administration major from Denver,

has been selected to give the senior speaker address. Platteville native and 1974 alumnus and current pediatrician Dr. Jeffrey E. Thompson has been selected as the principal speaker.

Assistant Professor of Business Administration Dr. Wendy Brooke has been selected as the Friday ceremony marshal. Heidi Nitka, a business administration major from Richland Center, has been selected as the School of Business valedictorian.

Saturday morning’s BILSA ceremony features 238 candidates and will begin with the senior speaker address from Amanda Becher, an industrial technology management major from Stratford. Thompson will also serve as the Saturday morning principal speaker. Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Laura Bayless will be the marshal for this ceremony. The College of BILSA valedictorian is Brittany Iverson, a crop and soil science major from Patch Grove.

The LAE ceremony will feature 268 candidates. Moline, Ill., native and English and theatre double major Elliott Frieden will deliver the senior speaker address. Dr. Stan Stojkovic, a 1977 graduate, will serve as the LAE principal speaker. He is the dean of the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at UW–Milwaukee. Dr. John Rink, program coordinator in political science, has been selected to serve as this ceremony’s marshal. The College of LAE valedictorian is Sara Raschein, an elementary education major from Prairie du Sac.

The final ceremony will feature 273 candidates. John Skinkis, an industrial engineering major from Black Creek, has been selected as the senior speaker. Honorary Lifetime Alumni Association member Erin Ralph, a 2003 graduate, will give the principal speaker address. The College of EMS valedictorian is Andrew Gunderson, a mechanical engineering major from Fond du Lac.

In August, UW–Platteville began celebrating its 150th anniversary. Many events, presentations, and creative works will highlight the history of the university, including a birthday party Oct. 15.