Commencement
Fall 2019 Ceremony
Penn State Altoona's fall 2019 commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday, December 21, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. in Arena of the Adler Athletic Complex at Penn State Altoona.
GRADUATES, click Commencement Day Details on the menu to find out more about the ceremony.
Campus Map
Find your way around campus using our Interactive Commencement Map.
Tickets
At this time, we don't anticipate that a ticketing system will be necessary for fall 2019 commencement ceremonies at the Adler Arena, but will evaluate the need based on graduate numbers.
Flowers
Flowers for graduates are available from Peterman's Florist. Day-of sales will be available in the lobby. To pre-order flowers, visit the Peterman's Florist website.
Commencement Speaker
Richard DeDonato
Richard DeDonato is a native of Totowa, New Jersey, and a Penn State alumnus. He began his college career in advertising at Penn State Altoona and graduated from University Park in 1977.
After graduation, DeDonato landed his first job at a New York City ad agency as a junior art director. He then went on to work as an art director for Doyle Dane Bernbach on Madison Avenue. In 1982, DeDonato moved to Philadelphia where he was a creative director at two different ad agencies. Over the next nearly 30 years, he was a creative director, manager, and/or partner in several marketing firms.
In 2009, DeDonato became the marketing director at Royal Pest Solutions. In 2017, Royal was acquired by Ecolab, and DeDonato is currently the market manager for its national specialty pest services division.
When DeDonato’s children Alexis and Matt were young, he often wrote and illustrated personal stories and books for them. One character, Pipsie, inspired by his daughter’s childhood imaginary friend, led DeDonato to a successful second career as a published children’s book author. The series Pipsie, Nature Detective features Pipsie and her sidekick Alfred Z. Turtle, who solve mysteries of nature through clues nature leaves behind. The books have been translated into several languages.
DeDonato lives in Wilmington, Delaware, with the love of his life Nancy and their dog and turtle.