Hooding Convocation
Go To: General Information | Academic Hooding | Academic Regalia | Academic Procession | Program Sequence | Instructions for Participants | Commencement Exercises | Photographs (available in June)
Keynote Speaker
Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the National Eye Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health, a position he has held since 2001. He oversees nearly 570 employees and a budget of roughly $700 million to carry out the institute’s mission to conduct and support research, training, health information and dissemination to prevent or reduce vision loss in the American public from eye disease through the support of research, training, and the dissemination of health information. Dr. Sieving was previously at the University of Michigan Medical School as the Paul R. Lichter Professor of Ophthalmic Genetics and the founding director of the Center for Retinal and Macular Degeneration in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
Dr. Sieving is known internationally for his studies of human progressive blinding genetic diseases that cause neurodegeneration of the retina, such as retinitis pigmentosa. His study of pharmacological approaches to slowing retinal degeneration in transgenic animal models led to the first human clinical trial of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa, for which he was the principal investigator. He also developed a mouse model of X-linked retinoschisis to which he successfully restored retinal function using gene therapy. He maintains a clinical practice at NEI for patients with these and other genetic retinal diseases, including Stargardt juvenile macular degeneration.
Dr. Sieving served as vice chair for clinical research for the Foundation Fighting Blindness from 1996 to 2001. He serves on the jury of the Champalimaud Foundation Award for Vision Research, which awards an annual one million euro prize for outstanding research or humanitarian medical service. He is also a member of the Jewish Guild for the Blind Bressler Vision Award committee. Dr. Sieving was elected to membership in the American Ophthalmological Society in 1993 and the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis in 2005. He received an honorary doctor of science from Valparaiso University in 2003 and has been named one of the Best Doctors in America for many years. Other honors include the Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Scientific Investigator Award (1998); the Alcon Research Institute Award (2000); and the Lighthouse International Pisart Vision Award (2005), which honors individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to the prevention, cure, or treatment of severe vision impairment or blindness. Dr. Sieving was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2006, one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health.
General Information
Dean's Brunch for Graduating Students and Graduate Faculty
TCU Kelly Alumni and Visitors Center
2820 Stadium Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76109
Saturday, May 18, 2013
10:30 a.m.
Business Attire (no jackets, please)
GSBS Hooding Convocation Ceremony
TCU Brown-Lupton University Union Ballroom
2901 Stadium Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76109
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Noon
Parking for both the GSBS Hooding Convocation Ceremony and Commencement Exercises is available on the Texas Christian University campus in Lots 5, 6 and 7. These lots are located between the hooding and commencement venues.
Academic Hooding
The hooding ceremony honors the relationship between the faculty mentor and the graduating student. The mentor places the hood of the regalia over the head of the graduate, signifying his or her success in completing the graduate program. The ceremony is similar to a graduation in that faculty and students are dressing in academic attire.
Academic Regalia
The pageantry and dress of the academic procession are inherited from the medieval universities of the 11th and 12th centuries. Academic life as we know it began inthe Middle Ages, first in the church and, later, in the teaching guilds, where dress was the outward sign of privilege and responsibility.
Principal features of academic dress are the gown, cap and hood. In 1895, American universities agreed upon a definite system of academic dress, which was revised in 1932 and, for the most part, reflects the style of today.
While it originally may have been worn as protection against the cold of unheated buildings, the flowing gown today is a symbol of the democracy of scholarship. It is typically black for all degrees. The doctoral degree is faced down the front with velvet, and its sleeves are trimmed with three bars of velvet in the color representative of the faculty or discipline to which the degree pertains.
The academic cap is a sign of freedom of scholarship, and the responsibility and dignity with which scholarship endows the wearer. The color of the tassel denotes the discipline.
The hood is trimmed with one or more chevrons of a secondary color on the ground of the primary color of the college. The color of the facing denotes the discipline represented by the degree. The color of the lining designates the college or university from which the degree was granted.
Academic regalia for University of North Texas Health Science Center is distinctive. Graduates receiving degrees from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences wear hoods lined in green and white. Doctoral candidates have gowns and hoods trimmed in blue for philosophy. Master of Science candidates receive hoods trimmed in gold for science. The mortar board tassel for all GSBS graduates is gold, indicative of science.
The medallion worn by some faculty is the Academic Commendation for Excellence, given to faculty who have received the highest possible ranking on their post-tenure reviews. The blue and white silk cords worn by some faculty and graduates signify membership in Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.
Students may click here for information on renting or purchasing academic regalia. Faculty members who do not own their regalia may make rental arrangements through the Office of Student Development (Lori.Saunders@unthsc.edu).
Academic Procession
Guests are seated in the ballroom before the academic processional begins. The platform party, consisting of the keynote speaker, deans, department chairs, alumni board representative, and faculty hooders, leads the procession. The faculty members follow in order of rank, lead by a Regents Professor who carries the GSBS banner. Lastly, the degree candidates enter with Doctor of Philosophy candidates following the Master of Science candidates. At the closing of the ceremony, the platform party, faculty and graduates recess in the same order.
Program Sequence
Dean's Brunch for Graduates and Graduate Faculty (10:30 a.m.)
Graduates and Faculty dress in academic regalia (11:30 a.m.)
Guests arrive in TCU Brown-Lupton University Union Ballroom (11:30 a.m.)
Processional (Noon)
Opening Remarks
Keynote Address
Presentation of Hoods
Recessional (1:45 p.m.)
Graduates, Faculty and Guests adjourn to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for Commencement Exercises
Graduates and Faculty assemble for academic processional in Commencement Exercises (2:30)
Instructions for Participants
All graduates, faculty and members of the platform party are asked to attend the Dean's Brunch. If unable to do so, please arrive at the Kelly Alumni and Visitors Center no later than 11:30 a.m. to don regalia and assemble for the processional. We ask that you do not wear jackets unless you plan to wear them under your regalia. The brunch venue will be cleared and there will be no security for personal items such as cameras and handbags during the hooding ceremony. You should bring your regalia with you on a disposable hanger. Coat racks will be provided for storage of regalia during the brunch.
Commencement Exercises
Degrees are conferred at UNT Health Science Center's Commencement Exercises. All forms related to participation in hooding or commencement are available on the commencement website, as is information for ordering regalia, announcements, class rings, and diploma frames. Graduates will turn in rented regalia after commencement to receive their diplomas.