Augustana prepares to graduate 500 Vikings

Augustana College will celebrate the commencement of nearly 500 Vikings representing 68 majors, 19 states and 20 countries at the college’s 164th annual convocation at 2 p.m. on May 25 at the Vibrant Arena at the Mark. In addition to the address from Dr. Lisa Durant-Jones, graduates will hear from student speaker Viet Bui, an engineering physics and computer science double major from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

“Commencement is a time to come together to recognize the hard work of our graduates and honor the growth they have achieved during their time at Augustana,” said President Andrea Talentino. “We are delighted to mark this occasion for all of our students and to celebrate their advancement to the next steps in serving as leaders in communities near and far.”

Bui is a member of Augustana’s growing diverse student population, with 40% of the college’s 2,500 student body now made up of domestic students of color and international students. This past fall, the college broke records in welcoming the Class of 2027, which included 192 first-year and transfer international students.

He is a member of Augustana’s Web Guild, the Augustana Physics and Engineering Society, the Water Polo Club, the Vietnamese Student Association, Sigma Pi Sigma (physics honor society), al-Khwarizmi Society (computer science honor society), and the American Physics Society. He also has served as project manager for the EDGE Center, the college’s entrepreneurial center, and as a tutor in the areas of physics, computer science and math.

Bui called Augustana his cross-continent home. He said he loved his liberal arts education, particularly studying and working across many departments in an interconnected community.

“It is a place where I find safety, and growth in all aspects academically and socially,” he said. “Here, I found friends from all backgrounds, where they truly expressed their individuality, but still came together as a community."

He was selected by EDGE Center director Doug Tschopp for the college’s More Than I Imagined series, which celebrates seniors who have achieved remarkable academic or personal growth during their time at Augustana. View Bui’s profile to learn more about his peak experiences and advice for the Class of 2028.

Tschopp said Bui connected early with EDGE, serving as an intern throughout his four years at Augustana to design and develop websites for clients.

“Our summer interns work full-time, and Viet spent his first summer building on his already strong code and design skills,” Tschopp said. “He followed that with a second summer developing management skills and leading our intern team. Some lucky company is about to hire a top website developer, and we will miss him a lot."

After Augustana, Bui plans to pursue working in an industry related to engineering physics and computer science as well as pursue graduate studies with a focus on computer-mathematical modeling into renewable systems and materials.

In addition to the undergraduate celebration, the college will recognize 14 graduates of the master of science in speech-language pathology. The hooding ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 24, in Wallenberg Hall in the Denkmann Memorial Building. 

This marks the college’s third graduating cohort of the 24-month program which earned full accreditation this spring from the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 

A complete list of commencement related events and a livestream of the event is available at augustana.edu/academics/graduation. A list of candidates for graduation is available at www.augustana.edu/about-us/news/candidates-graduation-2024.