Graduate Ceremony
9 days, 21 hours, 5 minutes, 3 seconds
Undergraduate Ceremony
10 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes, 3 seconds
Congratulations Huskies—you did it! The pride you have now grows stronger with time. Every Husky remembers their MTU graduation. Your Michigan Tech family joins you and your loved ones to celebrate completion of this journey.
Spring 2024 Commencement
Graduate Ceremony
Friday, April 26, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Undergraduate Ceremony
Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 10:30 a.m.
A Few Things To Note
- Guests are provided audience seating and do not sit with the graduates.
- The ceremony generally lasts around two hours.
- The SDC is a tobacco and alcohol-free facility.
- For the safety and security of the graduates and their guests, please be advised that all bags are searched prior to entering the event. Public Safety and Police Services are present.
- Show your Husky Pride and use #mtugrad when posting on social media.
Commencement Speaker
Chang Park, '73, President and CEO, Universal Remote Control Inc.
Chang is the President and CEO of Universal Remote Control, Inc. in New York which he founded more than 30 years ago. The company develops remote controls and home automation products and supplies them throughout the world.
He was born and raised in Korea. He came to the United States as a teenager to pursue a higher education. He graduated from Michigan Tech with a dual degree in Electrical Engineering and Engineering Administration.
Upon graduation from Michigan Tech, Chang joined an engineering consulting firm in Philadelphia that specialized in designing rapid transit systems. He worked on a number of projects including the electrification of the Washington Metro subway system and Northeast Corridor rail system.
Chang received an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Morgan Guaranty (a predecessor to J.P. Morgan) in New York upon graduation and worked in international financing.
With a strong belief in social causes, he has been a board member of the Bread for the World in D.C., WNET which is a parent company of PBS in New York and surrounding states, National Governing Board emeritus of Common Cause in D.C. and the board emeritus at the Union Theological Seminary in New York.
Chang received several honors including an honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Michigan Tech and the University's Distinguished Alumni Award. He has been inducted into the Academy of Electrical Engineers.
He is also a recipient of Impact Award in Philanthropy Leadership from CARE, an international humanitarian organization, Art Simon Award from the Bread for the World and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Home Automation Industry, CEDIA, a trade association with 3,700 member companies.
He is the Chairman of The Chang K. Park Foundation, an organization that supports human rights, the elimination of poverty and hunger, the implementation of political reform and economic justice.
He resides in Armonk, NY.
Student Speakers
PhD/Masters Student Speaker, Zazil Santizo Huerta
Zazil Santizo Huerta is earning her PhD in Discrete Mathematics. After graduation, she plans to teach mathematics at the university level in Los Angeles, California.
Santizo Huerta was born and raised in Tapachula, Mexico, and moved to Mexico City to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at National Autonomous University of Mexico. After working for six years as an instructor there, she was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship to pursue a PhD in the United States.
At Michigan Tech, Santizo Huerta completed her PhD work under the supervision of Melissa Keranen, professor of mathematical sciences, and successfully defended her thesis on April 5. Her research centered on graph decomposition—particularly the uniform case of the Hamilton-Waterloo problem. She also investigated the embeddability of one-rotational designs as maximal arcs in a projective plane.
Santizo Huerta was selected to receive the Graduate School’s Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in spring 2024. In addition to her PhD, she holds a Master of Science in Discrete Mathematics from Michigan Tech.
Undergraduate Student Speaker, Vincent Skylar Barfield
Vincent Skylar Barfield of Three Rivers, Michigan, is graduating from Michigan Tech with dual Bachelor of Science degrees in mathematics and computer science. After graduation, he plans to pursue a career in the field of machine learning.
Barfield grew up in Georgia before moving to Three Rivers, where he graduated from Constantine High School. He enrolled at Michigan Tech as a computer science major in fall 2020, and began attending in person during spring 2021. He picked up a second major in applied mathematics in spring 2022.
During his time at Tech, Barfield has participated in two Enterprise teams—Humane Interface and Design Enterprise (HIDE) and Blue Marble Security (BMS)—and was also a coach at the Computer Science Learning Center for a semester. For the last two years, he has been a brother of the Sigma Rho fraternity.
"Joining the brotherhood was the best decision I’ve made during my time at Tech,” he said. “Currently, I am serving as a member of Sigma Rho management committee, the chapter treasurer, and the IT chair.."