40 to receive doctoral degrees from CLU

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - April 27, 2010) Forty doctoral candidates* will participate in the Graduate Commencement Ceremony at California Lutheran University at 6 p.m. Friday, May 14. They will receive degrees through the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership program in CLU's School of Education.

This is the largest group of students to graduate from the doctoral program since it started in fall 2001. Previously, the largest group was the first cohort of 13 students. Students proceed as a group through their classes and dissertation preparation in the program, which is designed to be completed in four years. Four years ago, CLU admitted one cohort each in Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks and Ventura.

The ceremony will also honor 432 students* receiving master's degrees.

Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks will address the degree recipients at the ceremony. Christine McCloskey, principal of Richard Bard Elementary School in Port Hueneme, will speak on behalf of her fellow doctoral students. Kevin Schaffels, an undergraduate alumnus of CLU and the university's former controller, will represent the master's degree students. Currently the chief financial officer for a nonprofit foundation, the Reseda resident is receiving his MBA.

The doctoral (Ed.D.) degree candidates are:

Kathryn Janene Adams of Malibu; Robert P. Allison of Keller, Texas; Verónica Pacheco Alvarez, Carlos Dominguez, Jessica Loree Kiernan and Laura Leigh Rynott of Oxnard; Salimu Patricia Autry of Duarte; Jane Thompson Berman and Julia Ann Keiper of Sherman Oaks; Hanns Michael Botz and Roopa Rawjee of Northridge; Susan Chapin of Oak View; Michael Nicholas Cosenza of Moorpark; Sandra Luz Cruz of Chatsworth; Hollis Drake Fleming of Westlake Village; Robin B. Gillette of Santa Paula; Elizabeth R. Harker of Stevenson Ranch; Cindy Patricia Hendrix of Palmdale; Maria M. Hernandez, Susan Ellen Martinez and Jane Sweetland of Camarillo; Regina Marie Ibechem of Harbor City; Taisha Michelle Jackson of Port Hueneme; Christine Renee McCloskey of Newbury Park; K. Derek Moriuchi of Monterey Park; Keith Trevor Myatt of Burbank; Shannon Dawn Perches of Long Beach; Peggy Lynn Pope, Carol Jean Spain Iadrana and Lei Williams-Jones of Los Angeles; Mildred Marie Reid of Ojai; Mehereen Rickard, Anne Renee Roundy-Harter, Anthony Joseph Sabatino and Wesley Eldon Wade of Ventura; Colleen E. Robertson of Somis; Lilia Roddis of Glendale; Brian Silk of Woodland Hills; Maya Kwiat Tenenbaum of Thousand Oaks; and Deborah D. Wiltz of Canoga Park.

* Numbers based on Registrar's Office data on April 28, 2010.