BOONE, N.C. — Dr. Carol Babyak, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, and Dr. Clark Maddux, professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, will serve as macebearers for the Spring 2025 College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Commencement Ceremonies.
Dr. Donna Lillian, associate dean of CAS, will carry the university banner and Dr. Mike Madritch, dean of CAS, will carry the college banner. Dr. Maria Pramaggiore, chair and professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, will read the graduates' names.
The Appalachian State mace is carried by a senior faculty member in all academic processions. Traditionally, the macebearer precedes the chancellor of an institution, both upon entering and leaving a ceremony. The mace serves as a symbol of authority just as it did during the Middle Ages, when a macebearer accompanied an official taking office or opening court. The App State mace symbolizes the university’s mountain heritage, the rustic location and the sophistication of an emerging, national leader in higher education.
-
Dr. Carol Babyak
Dr. Carol Babyak will serve as the macebearer for the 5 p.m. ceremony.
Dr. Babyak, an analytical chemist, joined App State’s Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences in 2004. She has received grant funding from the National Science Foundation, NC Biotechnology Center and The Nature Conservancy, and, with her students, has published original research in various journals, including Chemosphere, the International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Spectroscopy Letters and Forensic Chemistry.
Babyak was inducted into the College of Arts and Sciences’ Academy of Outstanding Teachers in 2008 and received the college’s Outstanding Advisor Award in 2007-08 and 2015-16 and its Inclusion Award in 2020-21. Her favorite part of the job is teaching students in the classroom and mentoring them in research, as well as following their careers as physicians, engineers, professors and chemists, she shared.
-
Dr. Clark Maddux
Dr. Clark Maddux will serve as the macebearer for the 1 p.m. ceremony.
Dr. Maddux, a veteran of the U.S. Army, taught at Michigan State University, Tennessee State University and Austin Peay State University before joining App State in 2012, as director of academic service-learning. In 2014, he accepted a faculty position in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies.
Maddux has been awarded numerous research fellowships, including a National Endowment for the Humanities educational program grant with colleagues from App State’s communication and English departments, and he is volume editor of the “Biblia Americana” series.
The greatest joy of his professional life, he shared, has been teaching and working with the students of App State’s Watauga Residential College, a student and faculty community that fosters creativity, thoughtfulness and civic engagement through experiential, inquiry-based learning. Maddux served as director of the college from 2014 to 2021. He will be retiring from App State at the end of the spring 2026 semester.
-
CAS congratulates Dr. Babyak and Dr. Maddux on this honor.
For details about the Spring 2025 Commencement Ceremonies and to watch a livestream of the Ceremonies, visit appstate.edu/commencement.
###
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at cas.appstate.edu.
By Lauren Gibbs & University Communications
April 23, 2025
BOONE, N.C.
Dr. Carol Babyak, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, and Dr. Clark Maddux, professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, will serve as macebearers for the Spring 2025 College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Commencement Ceremonies.
Dr. Carol Babyak, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, and Dr. Clark Maddux, professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, will serve as macebearers for the Spring 2025 College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Commencement Ceremonies.