Polk State College 103rd Commencement
Polk State College will hold its 103rd Commencement on December 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Polk State College Health Center in Winter Haven.
Approximately 934 students will be eligible to march at the 103rd Commencement, including Summer 2010 term graduates. About 66 percent of the graduates will receive Associate in Arts (AA) degrees, which are parallel and transferable to state universities or for continuing in Polk State’s Bachelor of Applied Science programs. Twenty-three percent will receive Associate in Science (AS) and Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degrees. The remaining graduates will receive various program certificates, which lead directly to employment, and 4 Bachelor of Applied Science graduates will complete their bachelor degrees one term early—earning the first bachelor degrees in Polk State College history.
Polk State College has awarded over 33,000 degrees since its inception in 1964, with more than half of its graduates continuing to live and work in Polk County.
The new Winter Haven Chief of Police, Gary Hester, will be Polk State’s 103rd Commencement speaker. A graduate of Haines City High School and the Polk State College Law Enforcement Academy (formerly Polk Community College), Chief Gary Hester began his career in law enforcement in 1979 with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. He progressed through the ranks to become Chief of Staff, second in command to Sheriff Grady Judd, and retired from the Sheriff’s Office this past August to accept an appointment as Winter Haven’s new Chief of Police. He has served the citizens of Polk County for more than 30 years as a professional law enforcement officer and leader.
Winter Haven Chief of Police Gary Hester received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology from Saint Leo College and his Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama. He is also a graduate of the Southern Police Institute, the Senior Management Institute for Police, the FBI Florida Executive Development Seminar and is a Florida Certified Public Manager. Chief Hester has served as a guest lecturer at the University of Louisville and as an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida, and he co-authored an article published in a 2003 Journal of Criminal Justice entitled "Sheriff Law Enforcement Officers and the Use of Force."
Chief Gary Hester serves as a deacon at the First Baptist Church in Davenport, and he was a past president of the Haines City Rotary Club.
George A. Kalogridis will be presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award. George A. Kalogridis is a 1971 graduate of Winter Haven High School who received his Associate of Arts degree in 1973 from what was then Polk Junior College. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Central Florida in 1976.
George currently serves as President of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, a position he’s held since October 2009. As Disneyland Resort is the largest employer in Orange County, California, George oversees a workforce of 20,000 cast members.
Just a few of the many positions George has held in his 39-year career with the company are General Manager of the Grand Floridian Beach Resort, Vice President of EPCOT, Senior Vice President of Operations at The Disneyland Resort, Vice President of Travel Operations, and most recently he served for three years as the Chief Operating Officer of the Disneyland Resort Paris.