Morningside College will present three honorary degrees in addition to more than 200 undergraduate degrees at its 118th spring commencement exercises at 2 p.m. May 14 on the campus lawn in front of the Hickman-Johnson-Furrow Learning Center.

Morningside College will present three honorary degrees in addition to more than 200 undergraduate degrees at its 118th spring commencement exercises at 2 p.m. May 14 on the campus lawn in front of the Hickman-Johnson-Furrow Learning Center.

Morningside will award honorary degrees to Michael L. Bennett, president of Albaton Enterprises, LLC in Sioux City; John F. Bowitz, professor emeritus in the Morningside College Art Department; and Yoshitaka Tanimoto, president of Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan. Bennett also will be the featured speaker at the commencement ceremony.

Bennett	Bowitz	Tanimoto

Baccalaureate service will be held at 10 a.m. May 14 in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Ave., on the Morningside campus. The Rev. Dr. Thomas L. Carver, superintendent for the Northwest District of the Iowa Annual Conference, United Methodist Church, will deliver the baccalaureate sermon.

Baccalaureate and commencement ceremonies are open to the public.

Bennett is receiving an honorary degree in recognition of his service as a member of the Morningside College Board of Directors, involvement with numerous corporate and trade association boards and work on several Sioux City not-for-profit boards.

Bowitz, who taught art full time at Morningside for 36 years and served as chair of the art department for 20 years, is receiving an honorary degree in recognition of his long association with Morningside and his commitment to art and education.

Tanimoto is receiving an honorary degree to recognize his leadership at Kansai Gaidai University and his efforts to build on the university’s international student exchange programs with Morningside College and more than 380 other universities and colleges in 54 countries.