Veronica Pinnick

Minot State University will hold its 110th commencement exercises on Friday, May 16.

The University will begin the day with a traditional Hooding Ceremony for completion of a master’s degree at 8 a.m. in Ann Nicole Nelson Hall. MSU will hold the Spring Commencement Ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Minot State Dome.

For individuals unable to attend the two live events, the Hooding Ceremony and Commencement will be broadcast via the Minot State YouTube channel.

Guest speakers at commencement include Veronica Pinnick 2004, a Minot native who is an integration and test manager at NASA Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Craig Schmich 2024, a current student in the Master of Science in sports management program; Emmett Espino, a current undergraduate student majoring in finance and accounting; and North Dakota State Board of Higher Education Chair Tim Mihalick, a senior vice president at First Western Bank & Trust.

Pinnick, who will give the keynote address, graduated from Minot High School in 2000 and earned a degree in chemistry at Minot State in 2004. Following graduation, she attended Texas A&M, where she completed her doctorate in analytical chemistry in 2009. She attended Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, where she had a chance to work on developing a mass spectrometer set for Mars, which led to her being hired full time at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in 2011.