More than 670 Linfield College graduates will be honored during commencement exercises Sunday, May 28, at 10 a.m. in the Oak Grove.
Su-Yen Wong, chief executive of the Human Capital Leadership Institute and a 1989 Linfield graduate, will deliver the commencement address to the class of 2017. The Rev. Lynne Smouse Lopez, pastor of Ainsworth United Church of Christ in Portland, will present the baccalaureate address Saturday, May 27, at 5 p.m. in Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
Commencement speaker
Wong is the CEO of the Human Capital Leadership Institute, established by the Singapore government to develop global leaders. She is chair of the board at Nera Telecommunications, a global telecom and IT solutions provider that operates in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. She is also a member of the board of MediaCorp, Singapore’s leading media company; Yoma Strategic Holdings, a business conglomerate in Myanmar; and NTUC First Campus, the largest provider of childcare services in Singapore. She is an active member of the Singapore Institute of Directors, Women Corporate Directors and the Young Presidents’ Organization.
Wong has more than 20 years of experience in strategy, risk management, organizational transformation, human capital and leadership development. She is recognized as a multicultural, client-focused, people-oriented and innovation-driven leader, and has been based in the United States, Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Wong graduated from Linfield with a bachelor’s degree in music and computer science. She participated in concert choir, Linfield Theatre and the international student community. She received an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Baccalaureate speaker
Lopez has been the pastor of Ainsworth United Church of Christ in Portland since 1996. Under her leadership, Ainsworth UCC received a service award from Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon for housing an HIV Day Center. The church also received the first Local Church Justice Award from the UCC national Justice and Witness Ministries in 2001.
Lopez received a bachelor’s degree in education from Kent State University in 1976 with a duel major of special education and elementary education. She obtained a master’s of education in counseling, also at Kent State University, in 1980. In 1989 she graduated from the School of Theology at Claremont, Calif., with a Master’s of Divinity.
Baccalaureate has existed for centuries in colleges and universities as a time of worship for graduating members of the senior class. College officials, faculty and graduating seniors wear academic dress for the occasion. Linfield’s baccalaureate service is ordered according to the traditions within Protestant Christianity and strives to touch on the universal theme of common humanity that can be found in all of the world’s great religions.
Commencement ceremony guests are encouraged to dress for unpredictable spring weather. For more information, call 503-883-2408 or visit www.linfield.edu/commencement.
