TO OUR GRADUATES

Today you are graduates of the University of Illinois.

This is a remarkable achievement, and we are thrilled to celebrate the occasion with you. Commencement is a joyous and deeply symbolic event for all, including the faculty members, staff, family, friends, and others who have supported you on your journey. As members of the Class of 2025, you have overcome many challenges to earn your degree. Congratulations, and we look forward to learning of your future success.

Order of Exercises

PRELUDE

Graduate Musicians from the University of Illinois

Urbana - Champaign School of Music

WELCOME

Dr. Carla Cáceres, Director, School of Integrative Biology and Professor, Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior

COMMENCEMENT PROCESSION

Faculty and Degree Candidates from the School of Integrative Biology

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Dr. Carla Cáceres

ALUMNI CONVOCATION SPEAKER

 Eric Giesing, Chief Executive Officer, Savillex,  University of Illinois Alumnus 2008 & 2010, and proud Girl Dad. 

GREETINGS FROM THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES AND RECOGNITION OF CANDIDATES GRADUATING WITH HONORS

Dr. Stephen Downie, Associate Dean for Curricula and Academic Policy, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Professor of Plant Biology

PRESENTATION OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE CANDIDATES

Dr. Marianne Alleyne, Assistant Professor of Entomology

PRESENTATION OF MASTER OF SCIENCE CANDIDATES

Dr. Marianne Alleyne

PRESENTATION OF DOCTORAL PHILOSOPHY CANDIDATES

Dr. Carla Cáceres

CLOSING REMARKS

Dr. Carla Cáceres

SINGING OF “HAIL TO THE ORANGE”

Hail to the Orange,

Hail to the Blue,

Hail Alma Mater, Ever so true.

We love no other,

So let our motto be, Victory, Illinois, Varsity!

RECESSION OF FACULTY AND GRADUATES

School of Integrative Biology

Faculty attending today's ceremony

Dr. Lisa Ainsworth

Dr. Brian Allan

Dr. Marianne Alleyne

Dr. Nick Anderson

Dr. Carla Cáceres

Dr. Ben Clegg

Dr. Adam Dolezal

Dr. Stephen Downie

Dr. Eva Fischer

Dr. Becky Fuller

Dr. Alex Harmon-Threatt

Dr. Katy Heath

Dr. Amy Marshall-Colon

Dr. Pamela Martinez

Dr. Joy O’Keefe

Dr. Surangi Punyasena

Dr. Andy Suarez

Dr. Tony Yannarell

Marshals

Nick Anderson, Lecturer and Academic Advisor

Jessica Fink, Academic Advisor

Academic Dress

Academic dress, consisting of cap, gown, and hood, originated about the twelfth century and was worn primarily for warmth. Subsequently, the material of the gown and lining, and the shape of the hood, represented the economic and social, as well as academic status of the wearer.

In the United States, the great majority of the academic costumes now worn are in accordance with the general provisions of the Intercollegiate Code of 1895, which was revised in 1932 and again in 1960. Under this code, the bachelor’s gown has pointed sleeves, the master’s gown has oblong sleeves with an arc at the bottom, and the doctor’s gown has bell-shaped sleeves. All gowns are black, although the adoption of colored gowns by individual institutions in the United States is becoming more prevalent.

The bachelor’s and master’s gowns are untrimmed. The doctor’s gown is faced down the front with velvet and has three bars of velvet across the sleeves. The facing and bars may be black or may be the color of the subject to which the degree pertains. The bachelor’s gown is worn closed; the master’s and doctor’s gowns may be worn open or closed.

Hoods are also black. The bachelor’s hood is 3 feet in length, the master’s is 3 ½ feet, and the doctor’s is 4 feet. Hoods are lined with the official color or colors of the college or university conferring the degree. At the University of Illinois, the lining is orange and blue. The colored velvet border of the hood, which is 2 inches, 3 inches, and 5 inches wide for the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s degree respectively, identifies the faculty or field of study to which the degree pertains.

The black mortarboard cap is standard in the United States. Usually, all tassels are black, but where the graduating seniors do not wear hoods, as at the University of Illinois, the color of the cap tassel indicates the department of study. At the University of Illinois, candidates for degrees wear tassels on the right front quadrant of their caps before degrees are conferred, and move them to the left front quadrant after degrees are conferred. Caps are considered a part of the costume and are customarily removed only during an invocation or benediction.

For all academic purposes, including trimmings of doctor’s gowns, edging of hoods, tassels of caps, and linings of banners, there are different colors associated with the different disciplines. The color for Liberal Arts & Sciences is white.

Caps and gowns were worn for the first time at the University of Illinois Commencement ceremony of 1897. In the early 1900s the Commencement procession marched up Burrill Avenue to the old Armory. After diplomas were received, the procession marched back to the lawn south of Green Street. The seniors sang the State song and “Auld Lang Syne” before they said good-bye to each other and the campus.

Graduates and Candidates

The lists are organized by degree. Not all graduates listed are participating in today’s ceremony. Because of printing deadlines, lists may be incomplete.

Bachelor of Science

* BSLAS-MS student participating in the procession with BSLAS cohort

Integrative Biology

Harrison David Abrams

Victoria I. Abuwa

Moosa Ahmed

Maha Ali

Mohammad Fadi Alrafati

Dariana Antanovich

Anessa Arndt

Sharee Artist

Amal Fatima Ather

Abby Lynn Aukland

Wyatt Michael Bailey

Brandon Anders Banchs

Daniele Baranauskaite

Bridget Beggs*

Simona Bernfeld

Akshita Bhattiprolu

Mia Marie Birky

Monika Maria Birski

Jackson Robert Bonesteel

Addi Boundy

Jessamine Cafferty Britt

Marcus Nguyen Burns

Madison Leigh-Ann Burwell

Autumn Bush

Kaybrie K. Camp

Alexis Rose Carrell-Bowers

Coen Marie Carroll

John Patrick Carroll

Emma Marie Cartelli

Elijah Rey Carter

Annabel Baur Castronova

Hanah Rose Crowder

JC Cortez

Danny Thomas Coxworth

Gabrielle Czarnik

Mimi Bella Davis

Kevin Delgado

Sho K. Dzurny

Maia Lynn Eames

Isabelle Elisabeth East*

Emerson Echols*

Delaney Jaye Emery

Leslie Escamilla

Miranda Espinoza

Sam Edward Farrar

Jay Carlos Fernandez

Ellie Claire Ferris

Lydia Beatrice Fisher

Sam Tess Florey

Isabelle Miriam Gawedzki

Alex Giannopoulos

Sam Niccole Glowacki

Alex Nathan Gregoriev

Lucy Marie Griffith

Ankita Guha

Nia M. Harrington

Atticus Cole Helfer

Ehmely Margarita Hernandez

Anna Hoffman*

Sophia Grace Hoffman*

Amari Danielle Houston

Kamari Michelle Howard

Emma Marie Huart

Nallely Huipio

Ella Hope Huller

Varenya Jain

Sarah Elizabeth Jay

Angela Jiang

Zihao Jiang

Jonathan Jerald Johnson

Sarah Olivia Johnson

Lannie Catherin Kaercher

Anna Grace Kedas

Masato Lawrence Keeley

Cam Elliot Kiefer

Ryan Kim

Katharine Joan Klugman

Dina Feona Kobylarczyk

Hazel Elizabeth Kocher

Josh Ryan Kramer

Evan Krueger

Catherine Emili La

Sydney Chiu Laput

Anna Caroline Latham

Jonathan Lee

Trevor Lee

Lauren Therese Lindstrom

Cassandra Zhaochen Liu

Ryan Christopher Loeffler

Pete Frumencius Macasaet

Francky Chloe Maemble Ntomb

Lanie Elmido Mangaran

Leo Martinez

Ericka Marlene Mejia

Dylan Melvin

Krstana Milunovic

Peyton Olivia Mraz

Daniella Murillo

Thomas Duffy Murrihy

Taylor Okamoto

Mary Catherine O’Sullivan

Disha Parikh

Violet Hyejin Park

Dhruval Patel

Salvi Patel*

Nil Bhargavkumar Patel

Esha Deepak Patil

Luis Pedro Paz De La Cerda

Suhani Peramanu

Olivia Perry

Isabella Marie Peshek

Alexandra B. Pietka

Makenna Skye Pinkham

Moises Ivan Quinones Ledesma

Ashley Marie Radtke

Luke Rasmussen

Amber E. Rivera

Anna C. Roberts

Luc Tomlin Rosenstein

Juliana Delphine Saghi

Andrea Salinas Gallo*

Harry Singh Sandhu

Liesl Wen Li Schrag

Nina Marie Shearrill

Kinza Zahra Sherazi

Nicholas Scott Skowron

Edie Louise Smelko*

Amina A. Solangi

Michael A. Somerville

Moira C. Sommerfeld

Abby Christine Stiefvater

Isabella Renee Strohmeier

James Terrence Sullivan

Yuanxin Sun

DJ Thomas

Ian Duc To

Joachim Emmanuel Del Carmen Tomacruz

Cindy Tran

Aleena Ukkan

Jesus Vallejo Cardenas

Saule Vegelyte

Farwah Wasiq*

Ashley Werner

Auri-Elle Arlina White

Emma Whalen*

Hallie Elizabeth Wolfe

Jason Wang Wu

Kylie Ann Yerkes

Lauren Jessica Yuan

Hayder Ameer Zalzaleh

Junhe Zhang*

Eve Jordan Zubek

Integrative Biology Honors

Tamara Aldabbagh

Annika F. Bagazinski

Delaney Rose Blohm

Julia Willow Bondi

Varun Chovatia

Tyler Michael Defort

Eliana Y. Eng

Alyson Lauren Ficca

Madeline Rose Prideaux

Daniel John San Nicolas

Emma Schwaiger

Chase Patrick Schwarz

Fadi Ghazwan Shaaya

Chris Sanghyuk Shim

Abby R. Thompson

Isabella Rose Timmermann-Miller

Nick Martin Wilson

Anjali Purna Yedavalli

Chloe E. Zant

Master of Science

BSLAS-MS in Integrative Biology

Benjamin Arango Navar

Lexanne Halama

Greta Kathryn Keilman

Jimmy Lee

Daniel J. Legowski

Susan Love Lim

Yihan Liu

Natylie Larraine Marx

Sarah Noelle Meyer

Maria O. Osinubi

Anastasia Pasynkov

Anya Polonsky

Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology

Fabian Andre Pallo Rivadeneira

Entomology

Morgan Emily Brown

Xavier Carroll

Erinn Dady

Sam Alexis Dubbs

Jared Michael Martin

Rachel Milia Rusen

Jacob Dustin Tamarri

Jared Thomas

Anupama Cauveri Udayakumar

Integrative Biology

Yu Cheng

Mariana Gutierrez

Minji Kim

Tess M. Ledden

Bo Liu

Natalie Carol Monroe

Veda J. Murphy

Alex Philip Osepek

Emily Mary Riccio

Aakash Sandip Shah

Eric Vargas

Plant Biology

Hannah Beddow

Doctor of Philosophy

Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology

Reed David Crawford

Maris Daleo

Sophie Louise Larsen

Sean Khan Ooi

Sana Saboowala

Entomology

Edward M. Hsieh

Kylee Rae Noel

Jonathan Rice Tetlie

Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior

Lisa Surber-Cunningham

Plant Biology

Marc-Elie Adaime

Jie Fu

Jason Michael Karakehian

Duncan Gregory Martin

Aiden Schore

Awards and Honors

University Honors

Bronze Tablet

Anessa Arndt

Eliana Y. Eng

Lexanne Halama

Chancellors Scholars

Nick Martin Wilson

James Scholars

Tamara Aldabbagh

Kaybrie Camp

Gabrielle Czarnik

Eliana Y. Eng

Sarah Jay

Greta Kathryn Keilman

Catherine La

Anna Latham

Natylie Marx

Luis Paz De La Cerda

Suhani Peramanu

Madeline Prideaux

Luc Rosenstein

Juliana Saghi

Daniel San Nicolas

Abby Stiefvater

Abby Thompson

Nick Martin Wilson

School

Highest Distinction

Eliana Y. Eng

Alyson Ficca

Chase Schwarz

High Distinction

Victoria I. Abuwa

Annika F. Bagazinski

Jonathan Jerald Johnson

Sarah Olivia Johnson

Salvi Patel

Nina Marie Shearrill

Isabella Renee Strohmeier

Distinction

Daniele Baranauskaite

Gabrielle Czarnik

Jay Fernandez

Lucy Marie Griffith

Cam Elliot Kiefer

Lauren Therese Lindstrom

Isabella Peshek

Madeline Rose Prideaux

Daniel John San Nicolas

Emma Schwaiger

Edie Louise Smelko

DJ Thomas

Isabella Rose Timmermann-Miller

Nick Martin Wilson

Degree Information

This program links to an unofficial list of degree candidates for May 2025, as well as a list of graduates who received degrees in August and December 2024. Names of some degree recipients may not appear while names of some degree candidates who have not yet completed degree requirements may be included.

The University’s official registry for conferral of degrees is the Office of the Registrar, 901 W. Illinois St., Urbana, IL 61801.

THANK YOU

A special thank you to all who helped organize this convocation. Thank you to the family and friends who have supported the graduates throughout their time at the University of Illinois.