2013 Commencement Is Tonight

Ozarka College will celebrate its 2013 Commencement ceremony tonight, May 16, at 7 p.m. in the John E. Miller Education Complex Auditorium on the Melbourne campus. Commencement speaker will be state Rep. Tommy Wren of Melbourne. Rep. Wren is serving his second term in the Arkansas House of Representatives. He represents District 62, which includes Izard County and part of Stone County. During the 89th General Assembly, Rep. Wren is a member of the Revenue and Taxation committee, chair of the Insurance and Commerce committee and a member of the Joint Budget committee. He also has served on the House Education committee, where he was the chair of the Higher Education subcommittee, and the House and Joint committees on Advanced Communications and Information Technology. A graduate of Mountain Home High School, Rep. Wren received a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Arkansas. He is involved with Arkansas Farm Bureau, and he enjoys hunting in his free time. He and his wife, Ann, have three young sons. The Ozarka College General Educational Development (GED) Commencement ceremony will be Thursday, May 23, at 7 p.m. in the John E. Miller Education Complex Auditorium. Dr. Dennis Rittle, vice president of academic affairs at Ozarka College, will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Rittle began serving in higher education in 1995 and earned his Ph.D. in organizational leadership with a major in human resource development from the School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship at Regent University. Dr. Rittle has served on the staff of the Kansas Board of Regents, where he aligned technical curriculum for postsecondary institutions across the state of Kansas. He has also served as dean of academic affairs at Brown Mackie College in Salina, Kan., technical education administrator at Butler Community College in Kansas, and program director, instructor and curriculum writer for the Community College of the Air Force. Dr. Rittle and his wife, Christy, have been married for 21 years and have two children, Daniel and Childress. For more information on Commencement ceremonies at Ozarka College, contact (870) 368-7371 and ask for Student Services or Adult Education.