The 6 p.m. ceremony on Friday, Dec. 13, recognized graduates receiving their master’s, educational specialist and doctoral degrees. The keynote speaker for this ceremony was Kent State Professor Emeritus and anthropologist Mark F. Seeman, Ph.D. He is the author of numerous publications on long-term cultural change and has had more than 30 graduate students complete advanced degrees under his direction at Kent State. He was awarded the Distinguished Career Award by the Midwest Archaeological Conference in 2013. Seeman also has a sustaining interest in historic preservation and resource management, objectives he promoted as chair of the Ohio Historic Sites Preservation Advisory Board and as president of the Ohio Archaeological Council. 

Seeman has put his preservationist expertise to work locally in helping to develop May 4 initiatives at Kent State, including the successful National Historic Landmark nomination dedicated in 2018. He is a proud member of the Kent State Herrick Society and is currently a Research Fellow at the Applied Archaeology Laboratories at Ball State University.