Graduating students at the College of Medicine are eagerly anticipating May 17, when they will finally have their diplomas in hand. The years of dedicated studying, clinical rotations, research, papers and exams will culminate in a two-hour ceremony at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 260 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia.

Line Up

The ceremony will begin promptly at 9 a.m. on May 17. Graduating students should report by 8 a.m. to the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater, located on the first floor, directly inside the Broad Street entrance. All graduates will be individually recognized.

Honorary Degree Recipients

This year's Commencement speaker will be Donald F. Schwarz, MD, MPH, Philadelphia's health commissioner and deputy mayor for health and opportunity. Before entering government, he was vice chairman of the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and deputy physician-in-chief at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He will receive an honorary degree.

An honorary degree will also be conferred upon Herbert Lotman, founder and former CEO of Keystone Foods, who co-founded the Macula Vision Research Foundation and serves on its board, along with those of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, The Children's Cancer Research Foundation of Philadelphia, and Ronald McDonald House Charities.