UC Davis will confer more than 5,800 degrees this spring quarter, the majority of which will be awarded during the university's 12 commencement ceremonies that will be held through Sunday, June 20, 2004. This year's commencements began May 22, with the School of Law's ceremony, held in Recreation Hall.

Degrees to be awarded include about 4,650 undergraduate, 330 master's, 285 doctoral and 550 professional. In addition, 138 students were honored for completing studies for their teaching credentials in the School of Education's informal graduation ceremony held Wednesday, June 16, in Freeborn Hall.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, spoke at the School of Medicine's commencement at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 11, in the Health Sciences Quadrangle.

Darrell Steinberg, the California assemblymember who represents the 9th District encompassing most of Sacramento, and a graduate of the School of Law, is among the other guest speakers addressing graduates this year. He spoke at the ceremony for the School of Law. Additional guest speakers include alumnus and celebrity chef Martin Yan, known for his best-selling cookbooks and television program "Yan Can Cook," St. HOPE Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Fortune and business consultant Linda Oubre.

This is the schedule of remaining ceremonies:

• June 17, Thursday -- Graduate Studies will hold its commencement at 6:30 p.m. in Recreation Hall.
• June 18, Friday -- Three ceremonies will be held in Recreation Hall: the Division of Biological Sciences, 10 a.m.; the College of Engineering, 3 p.m.; and the School of Veterinary Medicine, 7:30 p.m.
• June 19, Saturday -- Three ceremonies will be held. Linda Oubre, president and chief executive officer of the consulting firm LSO Ventures and the 2003 executive-in-residence at the Graduate School of Management, will speak to master of business administration graduates at the school's commencement at 10 a.m. in Freeborn Hall. The College of Letters and Science will hold ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Recreation Hall.
• June 20, Sunday -- Martin Yan, known for his "Yan Can Cook" television program and best-selling cookbooks, will speak at both ceremonies of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, held at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Recreation Hall. Yan earned a master of science degree in food science from UC Davis.

The number of degrees conferred was gathered from estimates by the three undergraduate colleges, Graduate Studies and UC Davis' five professional schools (School of Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, School of Law, Graduate School of Management and School of Education). Totals will be confirmed this summer after a final audit is performed.

For the 2002-2003 school year, the final audited number of degrees conferred was 6,533.