Spring Commencement To Be Held May 5
Posted: April 26, 2012Gannon University President Keith Taylor, Ph.D., will award some 769 degrees during the University’s Spring Commencement ceremony, to be held May 5 at Tullio Arena.
The graduates include 44 students earning doctoral degrees, 285 earning master’s degrees, one earning a post master’s certificate, 414 earning bachelor’s degrees and 25 earning associate’s degrees. Some 49 students are graduating Summa cum Laude, 74 Magna cum Laude, 58 Cum Laude and 24 with academic honors.
Including students earning degrees at the December, 2011 ceremony, Gannon University will have a graduating class of 996 for the 2011-12 Academic Year.
Most Rev. Donald W. Trautman, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, will be the ceremony’s keynote speaker and will be awarded the Ut Diligatis Invicem award. The award is given to an individual who has demonstrated a strong commitment to his or her faith and is a living example of the Judeo-Christian ideal of love at work.
The name of the award is based on the Episcopal motto of Gannon's founder, Archbishop John Mark Gannon: “That you love one another.” Previous recipients of the Ut Diligatis Invicem award have included Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Frederick Franck, Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J.,
Dr. Jean Vanier, Reverend Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., Ph.D., and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, D.D.
More about Most Rev. Donald W. Trautman, S.T.D., S.S.L.
Bishop Trautman is a native of Buffalo, N.Y. He studied for the priesthood in Innsbruck, Austria, receiving his licentiate in sacred theology, and was a student of Karl Rahner and noted liturgist Josef Jungmann.
Bishop Trautman pursued higher studies in biblical languages at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and continued his post-graduate work at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, receiving his licentiate degree in Scripture. He also earned a doctorate in sacred theology from St. Thomas Aquinas University, Rome.
Prior to his ordination as Bishop, he taught in the seminary as professor of Scripture and doctrine and served as chancellor, vicar general, auxiliary bishop and pastor in his home diocese of Buffalo.
Notre Dame University Center of Pastoral Liturgy named Bishop Trautman a recipient of the Michael Mathis Award, its highest honor for outstanding contributions to liturgy. The Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions’ annual Msgr. Frederick R. McManus Award was presented to him in 2003.
Bishop Trautman, the recipient of several honorary doctorates, was honored by St. John’s University, Queens, N.Y., with the University’s highest recognition, its Gold Medal.
Bishop Trautman has written extensively on liturgy and Scripture, with articles appearing in Worship and America. He has been a member or chair of numerous committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), including:
- Administrative Board of the USCCB
- Ad hoc Committee for the Review of Scripture Translation
- Committee on Doctrine (chair)
- Committee on Liturgy (chair)
- Committee on Budget and Finance
- Committee on USCCB Financial Audit (chair)
- Committee on Pro-Life
- Committee on Migration and Refugees
- Committee on Communications
- Committee on Nominations
- Committee on Sapientia Christiana
He served as episcopal moderator of the Apostleship of the Sea, and serves currently as the episcopal moderator of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, on the board of St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Md., and serves as chairperson of the Gannon University Board of Trustees.