For the more than 300 graduates of the UW Information School, the ceremony on Sunday, June 15, was a time to celebrate with friends and family and receive well-earned recognition from faculty and staff.

This year's distinguished alumnus speaker for the event was Kabir Shahani, Informatics alum and member of the iSchool Founding Board. With more than a decade of experience in the software industry, Kabir has held a variety of roles in product development, program management and general management at Blue Dot, Inc., a social media content syndicator; and at Avanade, a joint-venture of Microsoft and Accenture.

Shahani and Chris Hahn co-founded Appature in 2007 and, in a major deal, sold it to IMS Health in 2013. Shani was named a top “30-under-30 technology entrepreneur” by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, “One of the 100 Most Inspiring People in Pharma” by PharmaVoice Magazine, “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and is a Puget Sound Business Journal “40 under 40”. Read more about Kabir.

Dean Harry Bruce offered opening remarks and Dean Emeritus Michael Eisenberg gave the closing address for what will be his last graduation ceremony at the iSchool. Eisenberg will retire in December 2014. 

The degree programs and their approximate graduation numbers include:

B.S. in Informatics: 95
Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS): 122
Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM): 90
Ph.D. in Information Science: 4

Awards presented from the graduating students in each program to one of their own:
21st Century Award for MLIS was given to Lisa Jordan.
Eisenberg Award for Informatics was given to Ashish Chandwani.
Archer Award for MSIM was given to Lalitha Ramesh.

Awards presented by faculty to graduating students:
Ruth Worden Award for Student Excellence in Library and Information Science: Rachel Price
Faculty Award for Student Excellence in Informatics: Janella Ignacio
Faculty Award for Student Excellence in Information Management: Joshua Manoj