IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  12/13/04  CONTACT: PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

SILVER CITY—Ken Cooper, store manager of the Silver City Wal-Mart Supercenter and Western New Mexico University alumnus, will be the keynote speaker for the WNMU 2004 winter commencement ceremony scheduled at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 17, at the WNMU Fieldhouse located in the Brancheau P.E. Complex.  During the ceremony, former State Representative Thomas P. Foy will receive an honorary doctorate degree from WNMU.

Some 105 degrees will be conferred including 36 associate, 39 baccalaureate, and 30 master’s degrees, according to the WNMU registrar’s office.

            Cooper earned an associate’s degree in marketing mid-management from Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton, Okla., a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla. and a master of business administration degree from WNMU.

Cooper is a native of southeast Oklahoma.  His hometown is Broken Bow, Okla.

Since relocating to Silver City, N.M. in 1998, Cooper has been a past and/or present member of the following boards, United Way, Past President of Big Brothers Big Sisters, WNMU Business Curriculum Advisory Board and Silver City Grant County Economic Development Corporation (SIGRED).  He is also an adjunct professor at WNMU.

Cooper has pursued a career in retailing and has been employed with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. for the past ten years.  Currently, he is the store manager of the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Silver City, N.M.  He is also an approved district manager candidate for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

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