WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

SALT PALACE CONVENTION CENTER SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

v Alaska Nevada The Honorable The Honorable Bill Walker Brian Sandoval

Arizona New Mexico The Honorable The Honorable Doug Ducey Susana Martinez

California North Dakota The Honorable The Honorable

Jerry Brown DougBurgum

Colorado Oklahoma The Honorable The Honorable

John Hickenlooper Mary Fallin

Guam Oregon The Honorable The Honorable Eddie Baza Calvo Kate Brown

Hawaii South Dakota The Honorable The Honorable David Ige Dennis Daugaard

Idaho Texas The Honorable The Honorable C. L. "Butch" Otter Greg Abbott

Indiana Utah The Honorable The Honorable Eric Holcomb Gary R. Herbert

Montana Washington The Honorable The Honorable Steve Bullock Jay R. Inslee

Nebraska Wyoming The Honorable The Honorable Pete Ricketts Matt Mead

Chairman

The Honorable Jim Geringer Director, Policy & Public Sector, ESRI

Governor, State ef Myoming (1995 - 2003)

John W. Bluford III President, Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute; Former President, Truman Medical Centers

Cole Clark Executive Director, Higher Education Client Relations Deloitte Services, LP; Former Global VP far Education and Research, Oracle Corporation

Dr. Therese (Terry) Crane President, Crane Associates; Former Executive with Apple and AOL

Robert Evanson Former President, McGraw-Hill Education

The Honorable Gary Herbert Governor, State ef Utah

The Honorable John Hickenlooper Governor, State ef Colorado

Tammy Johns CEO, Strategy & Talent; Former Executive, Manpower Group

Dr. Robert W. Mendenhall President Emeritus, Western Governors University

Lenny Mendonca Director Emeritus, Mc!Gnsey & Company

Scott D. Pulsipher President, Western Governors University

David Simmons President, Simmons Media Group

Dr. Samuel H. Smith President Emeritus, Washington State University

Charles W. Sorenson, MD, FACS President and CEO Emeritus, Intermountain Healthcare Director, Intermountain Healthcare Leadership Institute

GENERAL COMMENCEMENT

PROCESSIONAL

NATIONAL ANTHEM Shandra Hansen, Meridian, ID

M. S. Nursing - Leadership and Management

WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS Scott D. Pulsipher

President, Western Governors Universiry

HONORARY DOCTORATE DEGREE PRESENTATION TO

Robert W. Mendenhall President Emeritus, Western Governors Universiry

Scott D. Pulsipher

REMARKS Robert W. Mendenhall

COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS Clayton M. Christensen

Kim B. Clark Prqfessor ef Business Administration, Harvard Business School Founder, The Christensen Institute

GRADUATE SPEAKERS Kristen Gibson, Oakland Park, FL

Master ef Business Administration

Erin Bishop, South Weber, UT B.A. Special Education (K-12)

MEd. Instructional Design

CLOSING REMARKS Scott D. Pulsipher

RECESSIONAL

GRADUATE CONVOCATION, HALL E

UNDERGRADUATE CONVOCATION, GRAND BALLROOM

Honoris Causa

Dr. Robert W. Mendenhall President Emeritus, Western Governors University

Robert W. Mendenhall served as the first president of Western Governors University from 1999 until 2016, when he transitioned to the role of WGU's first President Emeritus. He led WGU's growth and development from the enrollment of its first student to a national university with tens of thousands of students and graduates in all 50 states. Today, WGU is recognized as the leader and pioneer in competency -based education.

Dr. Mendenhall joined \,VGU as an experienced, successful entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the development and delivery of techno logy-based education. Prior to coming to WGU , he served as the general manager of IBM's K- 12 education division. From 1980 to 1992, he was founder, president,

and CEO of Wical Systems, Inc. , an early leade r in computer-based curriculum , instructiona l management and testing, and technology-based training.

\"1hile president of WGU, Di: Mendenhall served on the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education. He has also served on the Nationa l Governors Association and American Society of Training Directors Commission on Technology & Adult Learning, on IBM's Education Advisory Council, on the Nationa l Forum on 21st Century Skills Education Advisory Board, and on the Technology \,Vorking Group for the California Postsecondary Education Commission. He is a former member of the board of the Department of Business and Economic Development for the State of Utah.

"Bob Mendenhall has done two hard things across the last 20 years. He has built a new institution, with a new learning model , into an enormously successful university, and he has led the nontraditional college sector to better policies, better student outcomes, and more national clarity about the efficacy of competency-based learn ing. In short , Bob always volunteered to do the hard things that would have the greatest chance of improving educational access and outcomes for America's adult students ," said Ed Klonoski, Chair of the Presidents' Forum, a collaboration of over 150 institutions, associations, and policy makers engaged in online higher education. Klonoski made the statement when Dr. Mendenhall was recognized with the 2016 "Champions of E-Learning Award - Heavy Lifte1;" the highest honor bestowed by the Presidents' Forum.

For his work in leading and developing WGU, Di: Mendenhall was selected by the Higher Education Policy Institute and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning to receive the 2012 Virginia B. Smith Innovative Leadership Award . In 2011, he was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Utah Region Award in the Technology and Education Category.

In 20 I 0, Dr. Mendenhall received the Harold W McGraw Jr. Prize in Education for his role in creating a compe lling competency-based, technology-driven academic model. That same year, Dr. Mendenhall was recognized by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) with an Award for Outstanding Leadership by an Individual in the Field of Distance Learning and was named Utah CEO of the Year by Utah Business Magazine .

Dr. Mendenhall and his wife, Kathy, are the parents of seven children and the grandparents of 19 grandchildren .

Clayton M. Christensen Kim B. Clark Prefessor ef Business Administration) Harvard Business School Founder, The Christensen Institute

Professor Christensen is regarded as one of the world's top experts on innovation and growth. Christensen founded a number of successful companies and organizations that use his theories in various ways. These include: lnnosight , a consulting firm helping companies create new

growth businesses ; Rose Park Advisors, a firm that identifies and invests in disruptive companies ; and The Christensen Institute , a nonprofit think tank whose mission is to apply his theories to vexing societal problems such as healthcare , education, and economic growth.

Christensen is the best-selling author of eleven books and several hundred articles, including the New York Times, How Will You Measure Your Life?. The Economist magazine named The Innovator's Dilemma as one of the six most important books about business ever written. A biannual poll of thousands of executives, consultants , and business school professors in 2011 and again in 2013 named Christensen as the most influential business thinker in the world. He received the 2015 Edison Achievement Award for his significant and lasting contributions to innovation.

Professor Christensen holds a B.A. from Brigham Young University and an M.Phil. in applied econometrics from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He received an MBA and a DBA from the Harvard Business School, where he is currently the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration. He also is a Senior Lecturer in Radiology at the Harvard Medical School.

Christensen was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He worked as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Republic of Korea from 19 71 to 19 7 3 and continues to serve in his church in as many ways as he can. He and his wife Christine live in Belmont , MA. They are the parents of five children and grandparents to six grandchildren.

The principal m.ission of Western Governors University is to im,prove quality and expand access to

post-secondary educational opportunities by providing a m.eans for individuals to learn independent of tim.e or

place and to earn com.petency-based degrees and other credentials that are credible to both academ.ic

institutions and em.ployers.

We help our students achieve their dream.s for a degree and career success by providing a personal, flexible, and affordable education based on real-world com.petencies.

wgu.edu