116th Winter Commencement Ceremony

Winter Commencement is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the Recreation Center, 130 North St.

The ceremony will stream live online.

The President's Medal will be awarded to Mohammed H. Khan, administrator of the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority.

Graduate Information

The processional will begin promptly at 6:20 p.m. Graduates are asked to arrive no later than 5:45 p.m. at the Recreation Center. Student greeters will have information to assist you with where you need to line up, how to get undergraduate honors medallions and where graduate students can go to be hooded. Coat racks will be provided.

For more information, please read the commencement brochure.

Parent/Visitor Information

Seating

Seating will open for guests at 4:30 p.m. Details are available in the commencement brochure.

Parking

Guests should park in either the Intermodal Center parking garage, which has been reserved for this event, or the North Street or Green Street lots. Two shuttle buses will be in operation between the Intermodal Center parking garage and the Recreation Center between 5 and 9 p.m. Parking attendants provided by the university will be stationed at the Intermodal Center parking garage to welcome guests.

Accommodations for Persons With Disabilities

Fitchburg State University is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and medical conditions. To request accommodations, please contact Cristy Guy in the Disabilities Services Office at (978) 665-4020 (Voice/Relay) or cguy1@fitchburgstate.edu. A form to request services is available through the commencement brochure.

Photos and Video

Family and friends are encouraged to take photos and video prior to and after the ceremony. Graduation photography will be taken by Commencement Photos Inc. of Tewksbury.

FATV will produce DVDs of the ceremony, which include both the undergraduate and graduate commencements. DVDs can be ordered for $15, which includes the cost of shipping. Proceeds will go to the Bob Wilson Memorial Scholarship Fund. To order, contact FATV at (978) 343-0834. A form is also available through the commencement brochure.

President's Medal

Mohammed H. Khan, administrator of the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART), has played a leading role in urban planning and development efforts in North Central Massachusetts for nearly four decades.

Khan, a resident of Leominster, has devoted himself to strengthening communities via enhanced public transportation since accepting his current position in 1975. For his efforts to improve the quality of life in the region, Khan is being presented the President’s Medal.

Khan and his wife, Hasina, a psychologist in the Milford public schools, are immigrants from Bangladesh. He arrived at Harvard University as a Fulbright Scholar in 1964 and taught at Boston College and Boston University.

As one of the state’s 15 regional transit authorities, MART provides public transportation to 21 area communities, from Hardwick in the west to Boxboro in the east.

As MART’s administrator, Khan was involved in the planning and construction of Interstate 190, the cleanup of the Nashua River, and other projects to facilitate economic development in the region.

Khan worked with local, state, and federal agencies and legislators to secure millions of dollars in funding for enhanced rail service between Boston and North Central Massachusetts, the planned Wachusett Station in West Fitchburg, as well as construction of the parking garages in Fitchburg and Leominster.

He worked with U.S. Rep. John W. Olver on transit improvement projects like the intermodal center in downtown Fitchburg, as well as upgrades to the public transit infrastructure including the introduction of hybrid vehicles and buses to the area. 

Under Khan’s direction, MART was the recipient of a National Leadership, United We Ride Award for developing a fully coordinated human service transportation model in Massachusetts, one of five such awards presented nationally in 2005.

Also under Khan’s leadership, MART has worked with Fitchburg State to allow all students, faculty and staff to ride any of the bus routes in Fitchburg or Leominster at no charge. This valuable service promotes student safety as well as regional economic development.

For nearly 30 years, Khan was also executive director of the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission, where he oversaw planning activities and developmental coordination for a region of 22 municipalities with more than 200,000 residents.

Khan earned a bachelor’s degree in geology, geography and soil science from the University of Dacca, Bangladesh, in 1959. He then earned a master’s degree in urban geography from the University of Dacca in 1960 before postgraduate studies at the Athens Technological Institute in Greece.

He received a master’s degree in city planning in 1966 from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

After earning his degree at Harvard, Khan worked as a research associate and part-time instructor in the Boston area universities. In 1970, he became senior planner for the Lowell Pioneer Valley Regional Planning Commission in West Springfield. He held that post until 1974, when he went to Des Moines, Iowa, where he served one year as principal planner with the Central Iowa Regional Planning Agency.

Khan and his wife have one son, Farris, a graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who lives in Michigan with his wife and two daughters.