BOONE–Appalachian State University will hold commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 11.

Each of Appalachian’s colleges and schools will hold separate ceremonies. For information about parking for the handicapped, call the university’s traffic office at (828) 262-2878.

Robert MorganWilliam CurryJerry MooreAustin Adams

The commencement schedule is as follows:

Saturday, May 10
College of Arts and Sciences — 9 a.m. in Holmes Convocation center, featuring writer Robert Morgan.

Hayes School of Music — 1 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center, featuring William Henry Curry resident conductor with the N.C. Symphony.

College of Fine and Applied Arts — 4 p.m. in Holmes Convocation Center, featuring Appalachian’s Head Football Coach Jerry Moore.

Sunday, May 11
Reich College of Education — 9 a.m. in Holmes Convocation Center, featuring a multimedia presentation.

Cratis D. Williams Graduate School — 1 p.m. in Holmes Convocation Center, featuring a media presentation highlighting student research.

Walker College of Business — 4 p.m. in Holmes Convocation Center, featuring Austin Adams, an Appalachian alumnus and former executive vice president and corporate CIO of JP Morgan Chase.

Robert Morgan is the author of “Boone, A Biography,” the novel’s “Gap Creek,” “Brave Enemies” and “The Truest Pleasure,” and 11 books of poetry. Morgan has held numerous appointments as a visiting professor of writing, among them at Appalachian, Davidson College, Furman University, Duke University and East Carolina University. He has been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim fellowship and a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship.

He also has received the James G. Hanes Poetry Prize from the Fellowship of Southern Writers and the North Carolina Literature Award. In May 2007, he received the Academy Award in Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Morgan continues to serve as Kappa Alpha Professor of English at Cornell University.

William Henry Curry is in his 12th season with the N.C. Symphony. He also is the artistic director for Summerfest and all N.C. Symphony summer programs. A native of Pittsburgh, Curry started conducting and composing music at age 14. His first major appointment was at age 21 when he was named assistant conductor of the Richmond Chamber Orchestra.

Curry has conducted more than 40 orchestras, including appearances with the Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, National, Detroit, Denver, American and San Diego symphonies and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In November 1997, he made his debut in Israel with the Israel Camerata Jerusalem Orchestra. He has also conducted orchestras in Bangkok and Taiwan.

Jerry Moore recently concluded his 26th year as a head football coach, including the past 19 at Appalachian. He continues to raise the standard for coaching excellence at the national level. In 2007, Moore was once again named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Coach of the Year, becoming the first Division I coach in the 73-year history of the AFCA Coach of the Year awards to receive the prestigious honor three years in a row.

Moore led the Mountaineers to a 13-2 record in 2007, including a monumental win over FBS No. 5 Michigan in the season opener, and the Mountaineers’ third-straight NCAA Division I football national championship. He has compiled a 167-70 overall record at Appalachian.

Austin Adams is a 35-year banking veteran. The Boone native spent most of his career overseeing technology and operations during dramatic consolidation in the industry. At JPMorgan Chase, Adams was responsible for technology and operations, managing almost 28,000 employees and a multi-billion dollar budget. Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, he was executive vice president and CIO of Bank One.

Prior to joining Bank One in 2001, he was CIO at First Union Corporation, now Wachovia Corporation. Adams became the head of technology and operations at First Union in 1985, following the merger with Northwestern Financial Corporation, which he joined in 1973.

Adams earned both a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an M.B.A. from Appalachian.

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