Seton Hill University is delighted to announce that Rick Sebak, producer of WQED’s wildly popular Pittsburgh History Series, will serve as commencement speaker during its Saturday, May 12 graduation ceremonies. Seton Hill University is proud to present Sebak, along with Dr. Thomas Gouttierre, Dean of International Studies and Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska, and Dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, with Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters at the ceremony.

"Rick Sebak has a knack for pointing out the little things in the Pittsburgh area that we truly love but maybe never notice," says senior Michael Rubino of Monaca, Pa., a graphic design and art major who will be graduating on May 12. "I'm really looking forward to hearing what he has to say, and hopefully he'll inspire students to remain in this area after graduation."

WQED Pittsburgh’s Rick Sebak has been part of the public broadcasting scene for more than 20 years. A graduate of Bethel Park High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he worked for 11 years at the South Carolina Educational Television Network in Columbia, South Carolina before joining WQED in 1987. Since then, he has been making unusual, celebratory television programs. His documentaries consider various aspects of modern American life and the unexpected charms of Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania. Sebak has produced 19 individual special programs that make up the Pittsburgh History Series, including "Kennywood Memories," "Pittsburgh A To Z," "North Side Story," and the much imitated "Things That Aren't There Anymore." PBS stations around the country rebroadcast Sebak’s programs because audiences respond so favorably to his blend of Americana, places and personalities. After his statewide special on "Pennsylvania Diners And Other Roadside Restaurants" aired on PBS stations across the country in 1994, Rick began making national documentaries for PBS including "An Ice Cream Show," "Great Old Amusement Parks," "A Flea Market Documentary," and shows about hot dogs, beaches and cemeteries. Sebak’s most recent local documentary “Underground Pittsburgh,” which gives a mole's eye view of the region - from caves, coal mines, and tunnels to the infrastructure that's buried in the middle of Pittsburgh’s Fifth Avenue - premiered on WQED in March 2007. Sebak is currently busy with the national PBS documentary “To Market to Market to Buy A Fat Pig,” which highlights market places and farmers' markets across the country, including one in Hawaii. For more information on Rick Sebak or WQED, please visit www.wqed.org.

Dr. Thomas E. Gouttierre serves as the Dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), and as the Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at UNO. Prior to assuming his present position in 1974, he lived and worked for nearly ten years in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, Gouttierre served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, a Fulbright Fellow, and Executive Director of the Fulbright Foundation. Gouttierre was seconded by the US Department of State to serve as Senior Political Affairs Officer on the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Afghanistan in 1996/1997. He served as a member of the International Rescue Committee’s Citizens Commission on Afghanistan Refugees from 1988-1993. Gouttierre has testified on various topics related to Afghanistan, US-Pakistani Relations, International Terrorism, and Human Rights before hearings of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the US House of Representatives Committee on International Relations. He has also testified on Afghanistan and Human Rights Issues in hearings before committees of the British Parliament, the French National Assembly, the Norwegian Storting, and the UN Select Committee on Human Rights. Since 1986, Gouttierre has served on the US -Russian (formerly Soviet) Task Force (Dartmouth Conference) on Regional Conflicts. He is a Board Member of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue. Gouttierre speaks, reads, and writes Afghan Persian (Dari), Iranian Persian (Farsi), and Tajikistani Persian; he has also studied Arabic, French, German, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. His publications include numerous articles about Afghanistan society, culture, and politics; a co-authored, two-volume language textbook, Dari for Foreigners; a co-authored Bibliography of Persian Works in English; original Dari poetry; and a variety of magazine and newspaper articles on other international topics. He was the project director for the development of the 23,000-word Dari-English Dictionary.

Seton Hill University, founded by the Sisters of Charity, is a coeducational Catholic liberal arts university in Greensburg, Pa. Chartered in 1918, Seton Hill offers more than 30 undergraduate programs and nine graduate programs, including an MBA. Seton Hill brings the world to its students through its distinguished lecturers and nationally and internationally renowned centers. Recognized three times by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the nation’s Top 100 Entrepreneurial Universities, Seton Hill has also been named one of the Best in the Northeast by The Princeton Review and one of Pennsylvania’s Top 100 Businesses by Pennsylvania Business Central. In addition, Seton Hill has been named a University of Distinction by Colleges of Distinction, an organization founded by a group of concerned parents, educators and admissions professionals. For more information on Seton Hill please visit www.setonhill.edu or call 1-800-826-6234.

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Media contact:

Becca Baker, Associate Director of Media Relations
724-830-1069 / 724-689-3599 (cell) / bbaker@setonhill.edu