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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University officials expect to confer a record number of degrees during the university's 2005 commencement ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, in Reser Stadium.

Last year, OSU conferred a record 4,114 degrees and OSU Registrar Barbara Balz says that number likely will go up this year.

"We're processing the degrees now and at this stage, we're about 230 more than last year," Balz said, "so it looks like we'll set another record this year." OSU President Ed Ray will preside over the commencement ceremony, which will be televised live on Oregon Public Broadcasting.

OSU is returning to a single ceremony this year after several years of splitting commencement into a graduate ceremony in the morning and the undergraduate ceremony in the afternoon.

Chris Johns, editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine, will give the commencement address to the 2005 graduates. He is a 1975 graduate of OSU, earning a degree in technical journalism. Two years ago, he was named one of the 25 most important photographers in the world by American Photo magazine. He is only the ninth full-time editor of National Geographic since 1888.

Johns also will receive the university's Distinguished Service Award.

OSU will present an honorary doctorate degree to Ann Roth Streissguth, who is credited with leading the effort to identify and focus attention on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Streissguth, who graduated from OSU in 1954 with a degree in home economics, led an interdisciplinary team that in 1973 first identified the harmful effects of alcohol use during pregnancy.

Most of the focus of this 136th OSU commencement will be on the undergraduate and graduate students receiving their degrees. Many already have logged some impressive accomplishments; many others have ambitious plans for the future.

Kami Vaniea, a senior in the College of Engineering, will graduate with a computer science degree and go to graduate school at Carnegie Mellon, where she received a full ride. Last year, Vaniea was one of just four students in the U.S. to earn $10,000 Google scholarships, and a trip to the company's Bay-area headquarters to meet co-founder Larry Page. It is pretty heady stuff for the rural Oregon student, who grew up 20 miles outside of La Grande in a single-wide mobile home without plumbing or electricity.

Jeremy Gregory boasts a perfect 4.0 grade point average and is earning three honors degrees - one in biochemistry/biophysics, one in international studies, and the third in Spanish. He was a Rhodes Scholar finalist and spent a year in Ecuador on a study-abroad program. Next up, says the former Pendleton student, is medical school.

Genevieve Hillis, who is graduating with a bachelor's degree in bioengineering, had her educational path delayed in 2003 when she was pulled out of school for active military duty. A staff sergeant in the 396th Combat Support Hospital, Hillis and her unit were supposed to go to Iraq, but instead were sent to run the Madigan Army Hospital at Fort Lewis, Wash. She returned to OSU in September of that year while still on active duty. Her OSU studies led to a research project working with scientists at the Oregon Graduate Institute, and a research paper presentation in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Douglas Riesenberg came to OSU after a 10-year career in the National Football League, where he played offensive tackle for the New York Giants and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and earned a Super Bowl ring in 1991 with the Giants. He has studied electrical engineering at the University of California-Berkeley, but wound up a few credits short of a degree and had to take some of his coursework over. Riesenberg also discovered OSU's innovative double-degree program, that allowed him to earn his education degree as well as his engineering degree. Now, he says, he wants to teach math to high school students.

Elise Kimmons, who raised three children on her own, commuted to OSU from Eugene to earn a bachelor's degree in public health. After graduation, she will travel to Afghanistan to teach midwifery, and plans to work in a similar community health project in Africa.

OSU's 2005 commencement will be a family affair for some. Both Dan Sheahan and his son, Tanner, will graduate June 12, walking side-by-side in the ceremony. Dan, who will receive a degree in psychology from the College of Liberal Arts, will walk with Tanner, who will receive a degree in crop science, and the two will sit among other newly-minted graduates of the College of Agricultural Sciences.