The following Lunenburg residents graduated May 12 from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI):

    Alyssa Xarras was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in management engineering; Mark Arnold was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering with distinction; Nathan Rivard was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in management engineering with distinction; Robert Flaherty was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.

    A total of 1,077 degrees (718 bachelor's degrees, 349 master's, and 19 PhDs) were awarded during the ceremony.

    Thousands of students, their families and friends, trustees, and other special guests were on hand to experience the inspirational messages delivered by keynote speaker Roger W. Ferguson Jr., president and CEO of TIAA-CREF, and WPI President Dennis Berkey.    

    Honorary degrees were conferred upon Ferguson; president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Susan Windham-Bannister; Nancy Hopkins, Amgen Professor of Biology at MIT; and Robert L. Norton, Milton Prince Higgins II Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at WPI.