Nash Community College students, faculty and staff are preparing for graduation on Thursday, May 15 and Friday, May 16, 2014.

Janet Cowell, NC Treasurer

The College will celebrate a record Curriculum graduation Friday, May 16 with 458 students receiving 626 degrees, diplomas and certificates. Two hundred sixty students will walk across the stage during the forty-sixth graduation ceremony, the largest graduation ceremony in the history of the College. North Carolina Treasurer Janet Cowell will deliver the address at the curriculum commencement ceremony in the College’s Brown Auditorium. Nash Community College President William S. Carver, II, Ed.D. and Board of Trustees Chair Samuel Dickens, III will preside over the ceremony.

Cowell is a University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business alumna with a Master’s in Business Administration degree concentrating in Marketing and German. She holds an undergraduate degree in History from the University of Pennsylvania. As a champion for education, Cowell serves on the State Board of Education, helping improve education, including financial literacy. As a result of her efforts, North Carolina students in Kindergarten through 12th grade began receiving financial education as part of their curriculum in 2012.
With over 20 years of financial leadership in private and public sectors, Cowell manages more than $80 billion in pension investments for more than 900,000 North Carolina public employees, firefighters and teachers. As the State’s Treasurer, she oversees the 32nd largest public pension in the world. Cowell serves as Chair of the State Banking Commission, and recently was chosen as an Aspen Institute Fellow. She has been featured on CNBC, FOX Business, Bloomberg TV and other media outlets for her leadership. In 2013, Treasurer Cowell was named one of the top 25 public pension executives in the world by Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.

Robyn Perkerson, CEO, Lifecare Hospitals

The College is pleased to present its largest ever class of Associate Degree Nursing graduates during a pinning ceremony on Friday, May 16 at 7:45pm in the Brown Auditorium. The pinning ceremony is a time-honored custom connecting past nursing traditions with today’s healthcare professional. Associate Degree Nursing graduates are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

Nash Community College Nursing alumna, Robyn Perkerson, will be the guest speaker at the pinning ceremony. Perkerson’s healthcare career began at Wake County Memorial Hospital, now known as Wake Med, where she served as a Certified Nursing Assistant. Under the Nurse Works Program, she attended Nash Community College and graduated from the Licensed Practical Nursing program. She worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse at Wake Med in Orthopedics. She later returned to Nash Community College completing her Associate’s degree in Nursing. Her professional experience includes home health, Trauma and Critical Care. She began working at LifeCare Hospitals of North Carolina in 1999 as a Staff Nurse and was promoted to the positions of Nurse Manager, Director of Clinical Services and Chief Clinical Officer. Today, she serves as Chief Executive Officer, overseeing the operations of LifeCare Hospitals of NC, a 50-bed Long Term Acute Care Hospital that accepts critically ill, protocol resistant patients.

Dr. Cindy Bennett, Executive Director, Strategic Twin Counties Educational Partnership (STEP)

Nash Community College’s Adult High School Diploma and High School Equivalency commencement ceremony will be held Thursday, May 15, 2014 in the Nash Community College Brown Auditorium. Dr. Cindy Bennett, Executive Director of Strategic Twin Counties Educational Partnership (STEP), will deliver the address. In her position, she works to improve the education of children in Nash and Edgecombe Counties by facilitating collaboration among all groups involved in public education, including public schools, teachers, school administrators, parents, business leaders and other community stakeholders.

Dr. Bennett earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Leadership and Administration at Walden University. She completed her Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Education at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and her Bachelor of Science degree in Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her professional experience includes service as District Transformation Coach and Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and Associate Superintendent for Whiteville City Schools.

Each ceremony will be held in the Nash Community College Business and Industry Center Brown Auditorium. For more information, call 252-451-8219.

Graduation 2014