Congratulations to our spring 2023 School of MCB graduates! To watch a video of our Convocation Ceremony from Sunday, May 14, 2023, click here. To view an electronic version of the program, listing spring 2023 graduates, click here.

We anticipate hosting the May 2024 ceremony on Sunday, May 12, 2024 at the Krannert Center for Performing Arts. More details to follow. The College of LAS will host a winter convocation for those graduating in December 2023 who cannot return for the May ceremonies.

Should you need an invitation letter for families traveling internationally, you can download this Invitation to Convocation 2023.

Graduates may participate in both the School of MCB and university-wide ceremonies, but must register for each ceremony separately and order a cap and gown to participate. The same cap and gown can be worn at each ceremony. The university-wide Commencement Ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 9:30 AM CT at Memorial Stadium. Information regarding this ceremony can be found at this website.

Tickets for the School of MCB Convocation Ceremony for Spring 2023 are available for pick up in the MCB Center for Advising, room 200 of Burrill Hall during our business hours. Note a photo ID is required to pick up tickets. Tickets will only be given to the graduate who registered for the ceremony unless alternate arrangements have been approved by Dara Lawyer (dpl@illinois.edu). Graduates who live off campus and are unable to pick up their tickets can request that tickets be held until Sunday morning. They will be available at the check-in table on level 2 in the Orchestra Rehearsal Room.

Information about ordering academic regalia (cap and gown) can be found on the campus Commencement academic attire website.

The deadline to order academic attire and have it shipped was April 20. Students who did not place an order prior to the deadline can still order regalia. Please fill out this form. You will receive an email noting when the order is ready for pick-up at the Herff Jones booth on the East Side of Memorial Stadium. Please do not come to the stadium to pick-up regalia unless you receive a notification saying the order is ready for pick-up.

Regalia pick-up dates and times:

• May 12, 9am-8pm
• May 13, 7am-9pm
• May 14, 7am-9pm

Please note: Cash (preferred) or credit card only. No checks will be accepted.

The Sp23 School of Molecular & Cellular Biology Convocation is this coming Sunday! To be prepared for the convocation ceremony, follow this link: Day of Ceremony Instructions

MCB Convocation Speaker: Carole Stivers, PhD

Image

Carole Stivers (née Carole Reeve, PhD, ’81, biochemistry) completed her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at a small college in her home state of Ohio called Baldwin Wallace University. After meeting many successful University of Illinois alumni through an undergraduate research program at Argonne National Laboratory, she decided to pursue her PhD in biochemistry at the U of I. It was an auspicious choice. Her time at the university not only led to a more than thirty-year career in medical diagnostics, but she met her future husband Alan, a physics grad student, through a 1970s version of on-campus computer dating. After completing post-doctoral work at Stanford University, Dr. Stivers worked at a variety of Silicon Valley diagnostics companies, both large and small. She developed the first at-home test monitor for the diabetes marker hemoglobin A1c, and authored long-standing patents on technologies useful in point-of-care glucose and A1c testing. Later, she launched a lucrative consulting business, guiding clients in initial development, scale-up, and quality conformance for medical devices of all kinds. But in 2020 she followed a whole new path, combining her love of creative writing and her knowledge of the possibilities of science to publish her first science fiction novel, THE MOTHER CODE. Dr. Stivers now lives in California, where she continues to imagine new futures.

Contact

If you have any further questions regarding convocation, including accessibility concerns, please contact MCB Advising at advising@mcb.illinois.edu or call (217) 333-6774.