UNH Manchester 20th Annual Commencement is May 17
 
By Paula Galvin, UNHM College Relations

The University of New Hampshire at Manchester will celebrate the achievements of more than 300 graduates at the college's 20th annual commencement proceedings on May 17. Imam Salih Yucel, Executive Director of the Boston Dialogue Foundation will give the keynote address.

The ceremony also will feature a student speaker and presentation of the Teaching Excellence Award. UNH Manchester's 20th Commencement proceedings will be held in the Expo Center at The Center of New Hampshire in Manchester, N.H. beginning at 6 p.mm Tuesday, May 17.

The Boston Dialogue Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2000 by a group of business leaders, academics, and students. The Foundation’s mission is to promote mutual understanding, respect, tolerance, and collaboration between followers of different religious and cultural traditions and to deal with issues related to living together as part of the human community. Interfaith and intercultural dialogue is the focus of the Foundation’s work.

Imam Salih Yucel received his Bachelor of Divinity Degree from the University of Ankara in 1982 and his Master of Theology Degree from the University of Sydney in 1996. He has worked as an Imam in Turkey and in Sydney, Australia where he served as Muslim Chaplain to Muslim inmates in Department of Corrections in Sydney, Australia. Currently, Imam Yucel is the Muslim Chaplain at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Imam Yucel is also completing a Doctorate in Ministry at Boston University and speaks frequently on issues of intercultural dialogue.