The University of Nebraska–Lincoln conferred 1,172 degrees during commencement exercises Dec. 15 and 16 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Full list of graduates | Program | Photo story
The 1,159 graduates are from 48 countries; 39 U.S. states and the District of Columbia; and more than 150 Nebraska communities.
“We are here to celebrate your remarkable achievements, perseverance and dedication that have brought you to this significant milestone in your lives,” Chancellor Rodney D. Bennett said during the undergraduate ceremony Dec. 16. “You have spent years of hard work and countless hours of studying, and today marks the culmination of your academic journey. We are proud of you.”
Among the graduates was Sukaina Al-Hamedi, who earned a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry with high distinction from the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Lincoln native began her college career as a pre-medicine student who planned to attend medical school. But her first few classes and lab experiences at Nebraska, including UCARE research and work under the mentorship of Amanda Ramer-Tait, a Husker food scientist, opened new possibilities for scientific discovery. Realizing her love of research, Al-Hamedi dropped pre-medicine from her studies and began adding experiences in astrobiology — or the study of the origins, distributions and future of life in the universe.
“A lot of people tend to think of space exploration as an engineering or physics-centric career,” she said, adding that she previously had that perception, too. “But biology and chemistry are also involved in the space sciences.”
During her years at the university, Al-Hamedi completed four NASA-related programs: a career development fellowship, two project-based L’SPACE courses and a space science education research assistantship. She also worked as a teaching assistant in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, conducted research in Nebraska’s Gnotobiotic Mouse Program and served as an international student orientation leader with New Student Enrollment.
Al-Hamedi plans to attend graduate school in chemistry next fall and sees a universe of possible scientific discovery ahead.
“That’s the cool thing about chemistry,” she said. “It’s so broad, and there are so many things you can do with it, and all are equally interesting to me,” she said. “I really have found an interest in everything. It’s like our motto in the College of Arts and Sciences, ‘Let curiosity move you,’ so that is what I will do.” Read more.
Also graduating was L.J. Bird, a nontraditional student from Canton, South Dakota, who earned a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
Inspired by his maternal grandfather, Bird excelled as a K-12 student. He enrolled at Nebraska in 2015 with dreams of becoming the first in his family to graduate college, taking the MCAT and entering medical school.
However, amid family turmoil, Bird soon found himself struggling academically — for the first time failing courses. He left the university after his sophomore year and joined the U.S. Marine Corps, becoming an artillery observer like his father. He married in December 2019 and was deployed for five months to Okinawa, Japan — brought home early by his father’s heart attack, which the elder Bird would survive.
Returning stateside, Bird found camaraderie and purpose in the Leathernecks National Motorcycle Club, a nationwide crew of active-duty Marines and veterans who prefer two wheels to four. Bird had fond memories of the club from his teenage years in South Dakota, where his father established a chapter that L.J. has since joined.
“Growing up around them, and seeing what they were giving back to the community — especially to the veteran communities that are sometimes forgotten about when they come back home — it just always gave me inspiration that I wanted to direct my life toward, that I found my happiness in,” he said.
When Bird reached out to Erin Sayer, a professor of practice and adviser in the Department of Biochemistry, about re-enrolling at the university, he was surprised to learn that she not only recognized his name, but remembered meeting with him and some of the conversations they had had.
“Her passion and drive for helping her students succeed was, by far, the biggest factor (in coming back),” he said.
With Sayer’s guidance and support, Bird found success the second time around.
“I text her probably at least once a week: ‘Uh, hey, this thing just happened. What do I do?’” Bird said. “I’ve probably annoyed her a little bit, I’m sure. But she had me so ahead of the curve that by the time med school applications opened, I submitted almost that first day.”
Bird hasn’t decided which branch of medicine he’ll pursue — perhaps orthopedics or trauma surgery, which would allow him to care for wounded veterans — but he welcomes the responsibility.
“I think there’s no greater honor in our society than being a military veteran,” he said. “So I will stop at nothing to make sure that I find a way to give back and help that community as much as I can.” Read more.
The December graduating class earned two new Juris Doctor degrees, 298 other new graduate and professional degrees and 872 new baccalaureate degrees. The university has awarded 318,041 degrees since it was founded in 1869.
