Northwestern College to award 449 degrees during May 10 commencement ceremony
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Northwestern College will award degrees to a record 449 students during its annual commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 10.
Master of Education degrees will be presented to 163 students, while 13 students will receive Master of Arts in counseling degrees. Two students are the first to earn Master of Business Administration degrees after Northwestern launched that new graduate program in the fall of 2024. Another 245 students will receive Bachelor of Arts degrees, and 26, Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees.
Northwestern’s previous spring graduating class record was 399, set in 2024.
An additional four students will be presented with certificates of completion as graduates of the Northwestern NEXT program, a two-year campus life and learning experience for 18- to 22-year-olds with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Commencement will begin at 10 a.m. in the Rowenhorst Student Center. Jenelle Dunkelberger, a 2011 Northwestern College graduate and geneticist with Topigs Norsvin, will give the commencement address. The baccalaureate service will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 9, in Christ Chapel. Mark DeYounge, vice president for Christian formation, will deliver the homily.
Dunkelberger earned a doctorate in genetics from Iowa State University after majoring in biology–health professions at NWC. She served three years as a geneticist with Topigs Norsvin, a world leader in the field of pig breeding, in the U.S. division of the company. Since 2020, she has worked in a global role as the leader of one of the company’s research platforms.
While pursuing her doctorate at Iowa State, Dunkelberger was a USDA National Needs Fellow and received several awards, including the ISU Department of Animal Science Graduate Student Excellence Award, the ISU Lauren Christian Graduate Fellowship, and the National Swine Improvement Federation Lauren Christian Graduate Student Award. She also served as a research intern at the Topigs Norsvin Research Center in the Netherlands while at ISU.
A resident of Lakeville, Minnesota, Dunkelberger is the author of numerous articles in scientific journals, including BMC Genomics, Frontiers in Genetics, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Journal of Animal Science, and Viruses. She has presented her research at various domestic and international conferences, including the Plant and Animal Genome Conference, the European Symposium of Porcine Health Management, the International Pig Veterinary Society Congress, and the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production.
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