Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: Co-founder of Imagine Schools set to speak at MBU commencement
Co-founder of Imagine Schools set to speak at MBU commencement
April 16, 2007
For specific information about MBU's upcoming commencement exercise, including maps and directions, go to the commencement page.
Dennis Bakke
The co-founder of the nation’s second largest operator of public charter schools is set to speak at Missouri Baptist University’s thirty-fifth commencement.
Keynote speaker Dennis Bakke and his wife, Eileen, started Imagine Schools in 2004, an organization that today serves nearly 20,000 students in public charter schools in nine states and the District of Columbia. MBU sponsors four St. Louis City charter schools that are served by Imagine Schools.
Before launching Imagine Schools, Bakke co-founded The AES Corporation in 1981 and served as its president and CEO from 1994 to 2002. He helped build the international energy corporation into a multi-billion dollar company with 40,000 employees in 31 countries.
Bakke is also the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, “JOY AT WORK: A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job.” The book is about two of Bakke’s passions: creating the most fun workplace in human history, and teaching the world the real purpose of organizations.
He has held positions in the U.S. federal government's Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. He graduated with honors from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. Dennis received an MBA from Harvard University, an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Eastern University and an Honorary Doctorate in Humanitarian Service from University of Puget Sound.
About Commencement
This spring’s commencement is expected to be the largest in MBU history.
More than 600 undergraduate and graduate degrees are on track to be conferred.
The University will yield its first graduating class from the Educational Specialist program, which began in January of 2006. Unique to the field of education, the Educational Specialist degree gives students the opportunity to complete a degree that falls in the middle of a Master’s and Doctoral degree.
The 2007 commencement exercises will be held Tuesday evening, May 1, 2007 at the St. Charles Family Arena. The ceremony will begin promptly at 7 p.m. For directions to the Family Arena, go to MBU's commencement page.
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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