IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  12/05/05  CONTACT: PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

SILVER CITY—Dr. Gilbert Arizaga, a local physician, will be the keynote speaker for the WNMU 2005 winter commencement ceremony scheduled at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9, at the WNMU Brancheau Fieldhouse.

Some 138 degrees will be conferred including 51 associate, 57 baccalaureate, and 16 master of arts, 11 master of arts in teaching, and 3 master of business administration degrees, according to the WNMU registrar’s office.

Dr. Gilbert S. Arizaga, M.D., from Grant County is a graduate of Cobre High School and Western New Mexico University.  He earned his medical degree from the University of New Mexico in 1974.  His residencies in pediatrics and dermatology were both from the University of Arizona.  He is now Board Certified in Pediatrics, Dermatology and Hospice and Palliative Care.

Dr. Arizaga has had multiple publications in both traditional and cultural medicine.  Indigenous medicine taught to him by Latino elders in his family remains dear to his heart and integrates those concepts into his present medical practice.

The undergraduate Response Speaker is Steve Patton and the Graduate Response Speaker for the ceremony will be Vincent Marra.

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