Dr. John Reese, a member of the Harding University Board of Trustees, will be featured as the keynote speaker for the University’s commencement exercises Saturday, Dec. 15. Approximately 360 graduates will receive diplomas at 10 a.m. on campus in Benson Auditorium.

Reese was born and raised in Zimbabwe, South Africa, of missionary parents, and first came to the United States at age 18 to attend Harding College from 1970-1975.

After earning a B.A. degree in Bible and French and an M.Ed. specializing in Bible from Harding College, Reese and his wife entered mission work in Zimbabwe and South Africa spanning 1975 until 1991. They took a year off in 1985-1986 to serve as the visiting missionary family at Harding University. They returned to South Africa to be the first full-time U.S. missionary family on the field specializing in World Bible School follow-up.

The Reeses’ experience led to their work with WBS. They joined WBS in Austin in 1991 and produced the new WBS curriculum. Since March 2006, Reese has served as the president of WBS and editor of Action! newspaper.

Graduates include students from the College of Allied Health, College of Arts and Humanities, College of Bible and Ministry, Paul R. Carter College of Business Administration, Cannon-Clary College of Education, Carr College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy and College of Sciences. President of the University David B. Burks will present the diplomas to the graduates.

Harding is the largest private university in Arkansas with 6,815 students and attracts more National Merit Scholars than any other private university in the state. Harding also maintains campuses in Australia, Chile, England, France, Greece, Italy and Zambia. For more information visit www.harding.edu.