EVENT:  UC Irvine’s class of 2013 will graduate this weekend in nine different ceremonies that start Friday and end Sunday.

WHEN/WHERE:   Ceremonies will take place Friday, June 14, through Sunday, June 16, in the Bren Events Center (grid D6, bldg. 901 on campus maphttp://communications.uci.edu//documents/pdf/UCI_12_map_campus_core.pdf). See complete schedule and speakers below.

INFORMATION:  Media planning to attend should contact Laura Rico at 949-824-9055 or lrico@uci.edu. Attendance and parking are complimentary. Members of the media should enter through the Stewart Room to receive press passes. For more information about commencement, visit http://www.commencement.uci.edu.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Friday, June 14

9 a.m.: School of Social Ecology. Featured speaker: Gaddi H. Vasquez, senior vice president for public affairs, Southern California Edison

12:30 p.m.:School of Humanities. Featured speaker: Andrew Lamaward-winning author, editor and co-founder of New America Media

4 p.m.: School of Education (M.A.T. and credential students), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Program in Public Health and Program in Nursing Science. Featured speaker: Alison Holman, assistant professor of nursing science

 Saturday, June 15

9 a.m.: Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences and The Henry Samueli School of Engineering. Featured speaker: Roger Andelin, president and chief technology officer, Rakuten.com

1 p.m.: School of Social Sciences I. Featured speaker: student and Fulbright Scholar Felipe de Jesus Hernandez

4:30 p.m.: School of Social Sciences II. Featured speaker: student Mazamir Yousefi

Sunday, June 16

9 a.m.: The Paul Merage School of Business. Featured speaker: alumna Kim Sentovich, senior vice president of Wal-Mart’s Pacific Division

12:30 p.m.: School of Biological Sciences. Featured speaker: Diane O’Dowd, professor of developmental & cell biology and anatomy & neurobiology

4 p.m.: Claire Trevor School of the Arts and School of Physical Sciences. Featured speaker: alumnus Ha Nhu Nguyen, chief of staff in the Transportation Security Administration’s Office of Global Strategies

BACKGROUND:  This year, 8,662 UC Irvine students will graduate. Already, 85 law students, 98 medical students and more than 500 graduate students have received their degrees. About 36,000 guests will attend the commencement ceremonies, and countless others are expected to watch the live Web stream.