Lt. Gov. to Address UPB Graduates

Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati will be the keynote speaker at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s commencement on Sunday, when he will address the largest graduating class in the university’s history.

Two hundred and eighty-six students will be receiving either associate’s or bachelor’s degrees during the exercises, which will be held at 2 p.m. in the KOA Arena of the Sport and Fitness Center. In addition to those students, 15 employees of Zippo Manufacturing Co. will be receiving two-year degrees in business on Sunday on behalf of Pitt-Titusville, a partnership between the two campuses and Zippo.

Sunday’s ceremony will also include the awarding of the Presidential Medal of Distinction to The Stackpole-Hall Foundation in St. Marys and Dr. William C. Conrad, its executive director.

Scarnati, Pennsylvania’s 31st lieutenant governor, also serves as Senate President Pro Tempore. He is currently serving his third term in the Senate, representing the 25th District, which encompasses all of Cameron, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, Potter and Tioga counties along with parts of Clearfield and Warren counties.

Scarnati, R-Brockway, was sworn in as lieutenant governor on Dec. 3, 2008. He assumed the lieutenant governors duties after the death of Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll on Nov. 12.

As lieutenant governor, Scarnati is second in line to Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, who was Pitt-Bradford’s commencement speaker in 2007. In his new role, Scarnati’s primary responsibilities will be presiding over the Senate and serving as chairman of the Board of Pardons, which each month reviews the cases of convicted criminals seeking clemency for their sentences.

Scarnati has been in politics for more than 20 years, getting his start on the Brockway Borough Council and later becoming chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He was first elected to the Senate in 2000.

He holds a degree in business administration from Penn State University’s DuBois Campus and is an ex-officio member of Pitt-Bradford’s Advisory Board.

“I think that Senator Scarnati will enjoy getting to know our bright and talented students,” said University President Dr. Livingston Alexander, “and I’m sure he’ll be pleased that many of our graduates plan to live and work in the region and contribute to the long term health and vitality of its various communities.”