December 2024 Ceremony

Saturday, December 14 at 10:00 a.m.
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

 

 

A Message from the Dean 

We are immensely proud to celebrate our graduates who have earned the highest degree, the doctorate, along with their faculty mentors.

Doctoral hooding is a symbolic gesture that represents the culmination of scholarly and personal achievement. During the ceremony, the hood is placed over a student’s head by a mentor or senior scholar, marking the transition from learner to producer or contributor in one’s field. It recognizes their academic achievements and welcomes them into the community of scholars.

Illinois has a rich tradition in doctoral education. Our first two doctor of philosophy degrees were awarded in 1903, one in Chemistry and one in Mathematics. That was over 100 years ago. The graduates celebrated this term join generations of distinguished alumni who are leaders and innovators, impacting the lives of people around the world. I am confident that these graduates, with their commitment and perseverance, will use their knowledge and expertise to shape our future in profound ways.

If you are a graduate, we hope that you’ll join us for the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony to celebrate all you have accomplished, surrounded by the family, friends, mentors and colleagues who helped you succeed.

Sincerely,

Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko
Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate College

 

Order of Ceremony

WELCOME

Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, Dean of the Graduate College

GREETINGS FROM THE CHANCELLOR

Robert J. Jones, Chancellor

GREETINGS FROM THE PROVOST

John Coleman, Provost

REMARKS FROM THE SPEAKER

Matthew B. Wheeler, Professor of Animal Sciences

RECOGNITION OF GRADUATES

Each graduate will be called individually and hooded by a member of the graduate faculty.
Graduates will be recognized by college in the following order:

College of Agriculture, Consumer & Environmental Sciences
College of Applied Health Sciences
Gies College of Business
College of Education
Grainger College of Engineering
College of Fine & Applied Arts
School of Information Sciences
School of Labor & Employment Relations
College of Law
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
College of Media
School of Social Work
College of Veterinary Medicine

 

Doctoral Hooding Speaker

Matthew B. Wheeler is a professor of biotechnology and developmental biology, director of the Transgenic Livestock Facility, a faculty member in the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology’s Tissue Engineering Group, and an affiliate faculty member in the Beckman Institute Biological Sensors Group. He researches reproductive biology, tissue engineering and stem cells, and holds numerous patents in stem cells, gene transfer and transgenic livestock, including the first cow to produce human insulin in her milk. His research led to the development of 3-D airway splints for infants with tracheabronchomalacia and to bone replacement implants. He earned bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in animal sciences from the University of California-Davis and a doctorate in physiology and biophysics from Colorado State University.

Since joining the Department of Animal Sciences in 1989, he has consistently been rated one of its top teachers, and received numerous awards, including the 1999 D.E. Becker Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and Counseling, the 2001 H.H. Mitchell Award for Excellence in Research and Graduate Teaching. He was named a University Scholar in 2002. Dr. Wheeler received the College of ACES Funk Award for Excellence (2012), the International Embryo Technology Society’s Distinguished Service Award (2015), the Carle Foundation Hospital Friends of Research Award (2013), and the UIUC Distinguished Faculty Leadership Award (2016), the “Mentor of the Year Award”, International Embryo Technology Society (2017), Spitze Land-Grant Professorial Career Award, College of ACES (2023), Graduate Mentoring and Teaching Award, Office of the Provost, UIUC (2024) and the Animal Physiology and Endocrinology Award from American Society of Animal Sciences (2024). He has also been named an Honorary Lifetime Member of both the Brazilian Embryo Technology Society and the International Embryo Technology Society.

 

Ritual and Tradition of Academic Dress

The history of academic dress begins around the twelfth century when the earliest universities were forming in Europe. At that time, the dress of a scholar—whether student or teacher—was that of a cleric. Typically, a medieval scholar would have taken ecclesiastical vows and would have been tonsured. The long gowns were worn primarily for warmth and hoods would have covered the heads of the scholars who spent many hours in unheated monasteries where ancient texts were maintained.

Subsequently, the material of the gown and lining, and the shape of the hood, represented the economic, social, and academic status of the wearer. The wearing of distinctive regalia for universities emerged in England in the second half of the fourteenth century.

In the United States, the tradition of academic dress dates to the 1880s, when different institutions established their own academic dress codes. Black is the traditional color for gowns, although at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, academic dress has been designed specifically for the Institution—blue gowns with orange accents and blue mortarboards.

 

Doctoral Regalia

Today the doctoral gown is faced down the front with velvet and has bell-shaped sleeves with three bars of velvet across each sleeve, differentiating it from the bachelor’s and master’s gowns. The facing and bars may be black or blue, as is the case at Illinois, or may be the color of the subject to which the degree pertains. Doctoral gowns may be worn open or closed.
Another distinction of the doctoral gown is its longer hood, which measures 4 feet. Hoods are lined with the official color or colors of the college or university conferring the degree. At Illinois, the lining is orange and blue.

The five-inch, colored, velvet border of the hood identifies different doctoral degrees as follows:

• Dark Blue – Doctor of Philosophy / PhD
• Light Blue – Doctor of Education / EdD
• Pink – Doctor of Musical Arts / DMA
• Purple – Doctor of the Science of Law / JSD
• Medium Blue – Doctor of Audiology / DAud
   

See Recordings of Past Ceremonies

 

For information about May 2025 Commencement ceremonies visit the Commencement website. Registration for the May Doctoral Hooding Ceremony will open in February 2025.