AP’s Wolman to address mid-year graduates

Jonathan Wolman, senior vice president of The Associated Press, will return to his native Madison to address graduates at his alma mater’s mid-year commencement on Sunday, Dec. 22. Ceremonies will be held at the Kohl Center at 10 a.m. and at 2 p.m.

Wolman, who was a mid-year graduate, says he’s excited about the opportunity to deliver the charge to this year’s graduates.

“I’m sure they are pumped up about their upcoming transitions, but anxious about the job market, looming war clouds and threats to security,” says Wolman. “Dec. 22 might be a good day to quote Churchill, who said, “An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.’ He was more pessimistic about the pessimists.”

Master’s, doctoral and professional degree candidates will receive their degrees at the 10 a.m. ceremony, along with undergraduates earning bachelor’s degrees from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and the schools of Education, Human Ecology, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy.

Bachelor’s degrees from the School of Business, the College of Engineering and the College of Letters and Science will be awarded at the 2 p.m. ceremony.

Approximately 1,750 undergraduates are eligible to receive degrees, along with 350 master’s degree candidates, nearly 190 Ph.D candidates and 40 professional degree candidates.

Wolman earned a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin in 1972. While on campus, he was a writer and editor for the Daily Cardinal. Today, as senior vice president of the world’s largest and oldest news gathering organization, he oversees news reports and supervises a variety of its business functions.

Wolman’s career at AP began in 1973, when he became a part-time writer in the Madison bureau. Later that year, he joined the Detroit bureau, and became Michigan news editor in 1975. He continued to work his way up through the ranks, and was named Washington bureau chief in 1989. He was appointed AP’s managing editor in 1998, became vice president and executive editor in 2000, and was named senior vice president of the news cooperative this year.

Wolman was honored by the Daily Cardinal Alumni Association in 1999, and received a distinguished service award from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2000.

Wolman’s father, J. Martin Wolman, was the publisher of the Wisconsin State Journal from 1968 until his retirement in 1984.