Parkland College 2018 Commencement Exercises, May 17
Filmmaking brothers Carter, Luke Boyce to give keynote address
Award-winning film directors Carter Boyce and Luke Boyce will give the keynote address during Parkland College's 2018 Commencement Exercises, Thursday, May 17, at 8 p.m. at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana.
Student Academy Award-winning director and animator Carter Boyce is one of Parkland College’s 50 most notable alumni. He attended Parkland at age 19, where he discovered his love for 3D animation. After earning his Associate in Applied Science in Digital Media in 2010, Boyce spent two years picking up animation jobs and working on his portfolio. In 2012, he took his animation career to the next level—film—by attending DePaul University in Chicago for further study.
During his senior year at DePaul, he created and directed his thesis project, an animated short film titled "Die Flucht." The film earned Boyce the top three awards at DePaul's annual student film showcase. He would go on to win a Student Academy Award for Animation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences during the academy’s 43rd Annual Student Academy Awards® competition in 2016.
His brother, Emmy Award®-winning director Luke Boyce, co-founded the award-winning film and video production company Shatterglass Studios, headquartered in Champaign, in 2006. He has gone on to direct over 100 productions since then, including films, commercials, documentaries, and projects with the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls. His documentary work over the past eight years has led him to interview some of the greatest names in cinema including Guillermo Del Toro, Tilda Swinton, Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, and others.
Boyce won a regional Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 2013 for a documentary examining the 14th Roger Ebert's Film Festival. His short film "The Pooka," starring TV's "This Is Us" star Chris Sullivan, premiered at the Palm Springs International Shortfest and won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2017. That same year, Boyce announced his feature-length directorial debut project, a live-action adaptation of the award-winning Image Comics series "Revival," a Midwestern horror/noir, to be released in 2019.
Other honored guests at commencement will include Kelly Duitsman Loschen, CPA, who will be honored with the college's Distinguished Alumnus Award, and Gregory D. Cozad, CFP, who will receive the college's 2018 Honorary Associate Degree.
Loschen has a passion for improving the financial literacy, including college and career readiness, of others in her community. After 16 years in public accounting with Martin, Hood, Friese & Associates, she joined Farm Credit Illinois as senior vice president and chief financial officer in 2016. A Champaign native, Loschen attended Parkland College on the Parkland College Presidential Scholarship (now the Board of Trustees Scholarship), awarded to the top 10 percent of high school graduates in District 505. She earned her Associate in Science in Business Administration in 1998, her Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois in 2000, and her Certified Public Accountant designation less than one year later.
She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; the Illinois CPA Society, Eastern Chapter; and the Executive Club of Champaign County. Loschen served as past treasurer for the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation Board of Directors and serves on the Parkland College Foundation Board. In 2013, she was honored with a 40 Under 40 Award by Central Illinois Business Magazine.
Gregory Cozad's corporation, Cozad Asset Management, handles millions in assets for individuals and families. CNBC, Bloomberg Television, The Wall Street Journal Radio, and other financial media have turned to Cozad Asset Management for its expertise in investments, the financial outlook, and wealth management. He is a Certified Financial Planner practitioner and a Registered Representative of M Holdings Securities, Inc. Cozad graduated with distinction from Indiana University and went on to receive both law and masters of business administration degrees from the University of Notre Dame.
Cozad served as president of the Stevick Foundation and as a member of the Champaign City Council, the Champaign-Urbana Economic Development Corporation Board, and the Dean’s Business Council at the University of Illinois. He was a charter member of the Parkland College Entrepreneurial Program, serving as emcee of the Parkland College Foundation’s Entrepreneur of the Year banquet during its first nine years and naming its V. Dale Cozad Award, given annually to the winner, in honor of his father. Cozad also initiated the Cozad New Venture Competition at the University of Illinois.
Parkland's commencement also will feature remarks from college President Thomas Ramage and Board of Trustees Chair Dana D. Trimble. Pastor Seth J. Jersild of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Saint Joseph will provide the invocation/benediction, and the Parkland College Wind Ensemble will perform several selections. A reception will be held in the Krannert Center lobby after the recessional. Tickets are required.