NEWS RELEASE
Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
4/30/2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES - Northwestern State University will hold its Spring Commencement Exercises Friday, May 9 in Prather Coliseum.
Graduates from the Colleges of Education, Liberal Arts, Nursing and the Graduate School will receive diplomas at 10 a.m. Those receiving degrees in the College of Business, the Louisiana Scholars’ College, the College of Science and Technology and the University College will be recognized at 3 p.m. Members of the Class of 1958 will receive Second Diplomas at the afternoon ceremony.
Dr. John Ruffin, director of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, will be the speaker at the 10 a.m. ceremony. State Sen. Gerald Long will speak at the 3 p.m. ceremony. Northwestern will award an honorary doctorate of humane letters to Joseph Dow of Pasadena, Texas, during the morning ceremonies.
Ruffin is a well-respected leader and visionary in the field of health disparities. He has devoted his professional life to improving the health status of minority populations in the United States and to developing and supporting educational programs for minority researchers and health care practitioners.
For over 15 years, Ruffin has led the transformation of the National Institutes of Health minority health and health disparities research agenda from a programmatic concept to an institutional reality. He has served as the Associate Director for Minority Programs, Office of Minority Programs; and the Associate Director for Research on Minority Health, Office of Research on Minority Health.
Long, a native of Winn Parish, is a 1966 graduate of Northwestern. He was a teacher in Terrebonne and Vernon parishes before beginning a successful career with State Farm Insurance.
Long retired from State Farm in 1999 and along with his wife Rose began working as an area representative for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. They
served in 10 parishes, with more than 80 high schools and two universities.
Last November, Long was elected to the Louisiana Senate from District 31 which covers all or part of Natchitoches, Winn, Grant, Sabine, Rapides and Red River parishes.
He is a member and past president of the Natchitoches Kiwanis Club, a member of Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce, a member of Northwestern Athletic Association Board of Directors and a member and deacon of First Baptist Church of Natchitoches. In 2005, he was chosen as Man of the Year by the Business and Professional Women of Natchitoches.
Dow, a 1963 graduate of Northwestern in mathematics, is founder and owner of Dow Pipe & Fence Supply, one of the largest pipe and fence material wholesale companies in the United States. His company ships pipe and fence material nationally and internationally. Dow has assisted Northwestern in a variety of ways including donating materials to construct gates at several entrances to NSU’s Natchitoches campus.
The University honored him in 2004 with induction into the Northwestern Alumni Hall of Distinction, the Long Purple Line.
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