Approximately 700 Missouri S&T students will be awarded degrees during three upcoming commencement ceremonies Friday, Dec. 19, and Saturday, Dec. 20. Dr. Steven Jung, chief commercial officer of Mo-Sci Corporation, will speak at the Dec. 19 ceremony for Ph.D. and master’s degree graduates. Dr. Gregory M. Polites, executive vice dean and interim head of biomedical and translational sciences for the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, will speak at both Dec. 20 ceremonies for bachelor’s degree candidates.

All three ceremonies will be held at the Gale Bullman Building, located at 10th Street and Bishop Avenue in Rolla. The first ceremony, for Ph.D. and master’s degree graduates, will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19. The other two ceremonies, for bachelor’s degree recipients, will begin at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20. Saturday’s ceremonies are divided by discipline.

Each event will be livestreamed via Missouri S&T’s Facebook page and on Zoom for those guests needing closed captioning. The videos will also be on S&T’s YouTube page. For more details about commencement ceremonies, please visit commencement.mst.edu.

Speaker bios

Steven Jung

Dr. Steven Jung is chief commercial officer at MO-SCI Corporation, a specialty glass manufacturer in Rolla, Missouri.

Jung earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ceramic engineering and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Missouri S&T in 2005, 2007 and 2010, respectively. His doctoral research focused on developing bioactive glass scaffolds for hard and soft tissue regeneration.

An internationally recognized innovator in biomaterials and bioactive glass technology, Jung invented scaffold technology and a family of bioactive glass materials now used in bone implants, spinal devices and advanced wound care products. His work has been incorporated into medical devices commercialized by major companies including J&J Med Tech, Globus Medical, Synergy Biomedical, Zavation and ETS Wound Care.

Jung holds 35 U.S. patents and over 100 total U.S. and international patents and applications, with 13 commercial medical devices using technologies he helped develop.

Jung is a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors, Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, and member of S&T’s Mines and Metallurgy Academy and Academy of Miner Athletics.

Gregory M. Polites

Dr. Gregory M. Polites serves as executive vice dean and interim head of biomedical and translational sciences for the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Polites oversees the educational mission of the world’s first engineering-based college of medicine. He also holds the position of executive director of the Global Consortium of Innovation and Engineering in Medicine.

A professor of emergency medicine, Polites maintains a clinical practice with interests in trauma and critical care. He earned a medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago and completed an emergency medicine residency at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He then spent the next 21 years as a full-time faculty member at Washington University, where he became an award-winning lecturer and educator for medical students and resident physicians.

Polites brings extensive experience in curriculum development, admissions, and mentorship of residents and attending physicians across the country. Having held national leadership positions within emergency medicine, he currently serves as an oral board examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine.

Internationally, he has supported medical education initiatives in multiple countries and now focuses on leveraging artificial intelligence to strengthen workforce development and medical education, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

Polites is also frequently invited to speak on emotional intelligence and resiliency in medical training, something he considers vital for all physicians and trainees.

About Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.