The commencement speaker is journalist Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" and senior correspondent for "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer." Ifill, who was the first African-American woman to host a prominent political talk show on national television, will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate along with two other highly accomplished individuals: James K. Kallstrom and Manuel J. Ramos.

Kallstrom, a 1980 graduate of C.W. Post, serves as director of the newly created New York State Office of Public Security, and coordinates anti-terrorist efforts throughout New York State. A former FBI Assistant Director, Kallstrom has worked on such high profile cases as the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center and the investigation of TWA Flight 800. Ramos, who serves as director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, is a champion for promoting the needs of minority students and teachers on Long Island. He served for eight years on the New York State Commissioner's Advisory Council of Bilingual Education and as assistant superintendent for the Central Islip School District. Until his retirement in 2000, Dr. Ramos was the highest-ranking Latino official in Long Island's public schools.

Olubukola ("Buki") T. Dada of Glen Cove, NY is C.W. Post's valedictorian. The 22-year-old Nigerian native, who has a perfect 4.0 grade point average, will receive a bachelor of arts degree in physics with a minor in chemistry. She will give her valedictory speech at commencement ceremonies, which begin at 9:30 a.m. in front of Humanities Hall. After graduation, she plans to pursue a master's degree in chemical engineering.

The C.W. Post salutatorian is Brooklyn resident Hunter Gilmore, 22, an aspiring actor who is earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts with a major in acting. Gilmore, a 1998 graduate of the Fine Arts Center of Greenville, S.C., was recently cast in the off-Broadway play, Measure for Measure by Shakespeare.

Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented to five successful C.W. Post graduates: Pless M. Dickerson, ('78 '84 education), principal of Westbury High School and an integral part of the C.W. Post/Yale University/Westbury School District's Comer school reform project; Robert Ronzoni, ('65 economics), former president of the Ronzoni Macaroni Company and founder of Pasta Montana and Northstar Custom Home Corporation; J. Curtis Shambaugh, ('62 business administration), founder of Marketeyes, Inc. and retired managing director and senior advisor at Credit Suisse First Boston; Stanley H. Schuckman, ('68 accounting), president and owner of Schuckman Realty, Inc., a leading retail real estate broker and developer; and M. Vicki Wacksman, ('78 public administration), president of Wacksman Associates, Ltd., a management-consulting and training firm in Dix Hills. Ms. Wacksman is co-founder of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Long Island chapter, and president emeritus of Black Women Enterprises.

The Nassau County Secondary School Teacher of the Year Award, which recognizes exemplary teaching, will be awarded to Joan Ambrosino, a guidance counselor at Roslyn High School.

The Class of 2002 includes 724 baccalaureate degree candidates, 847 master's degree candidates, and four doctoral students receiving the Psy.D. in clinical psychology.

C.W. Post is one of six campuses of Long Island University, the eighth largest private university in the United States. With nearly 12,000 students, C.W. Post offers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in the accountancy, business (AACSB accredited), computer science, liberal arts and sciences, library and information science, education, health professions and nursing, public service, and visual and performing arts. C.W. Post also offers doctorates in information studies and clinical psychology as well as an extensive continuing education program.