COMMENCEMENT
School of Public Policy
Friday, April Twenty-Fifth, Two Thousand Twenty-Five Ten Thirty in the Morning Malibu, California
Marshal
Processional
Invocation
Pledge of Allegiance
National Anthem
JAMES E. PRIEGER
Professor of Public Policy
Pomp and Circumstance (Elgar)
GAIL M. WILBURN
Clinical Supervisor
Maple Counseling Center Class of 2005, Graduate School of Education and Psychology
GAIL M. WILBURN
NORVASHUA COTTINGHAM
Current Student, Seaver College
Presiding LILA McDOWELL CARLSEN
Vice Provost
Student Address
Presentation of Distinguished
Alumnus Award
NATHAN R. PETERSON
Class of 2023, Caruso School of Law Class of 2025
PETE N. PETERSON
Dean, Braun Family Dean’s Chair Senior Fellow, Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership Class of 2007
KEVIN D. McGOWAN
Director, Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management Class of 2010
Presentation of Commencement
Speaker
Commencement Address
PETE N. PETERSON
IAN V. ROWE
Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute Cofounder, Vertex Partnership Academies
Presentation of Candidates
PETE N. PETERSON for Graduate Degrees
Conferring of Degree
Benediction
JAMES A. GASH
President
Class of 1993, Caruso School of Law
SARA A. LINDGREN
Director of Recruitment and Program Relations
Class of 1994, Seaver College Class of 2001
The audience will rise for the benediction and be seated during the recessional.
Recessional Green Hills and When the Battle’s Over (Scottish Standards)
The School of Public Policy Alumni Office and Pepperdine University Alumni Association invite you to a reception following the commencement ceremony on Alumni Park.
KEVIN D. McGOWAN
Kevin D. McGowan serves as director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management. Leading an all-hazards emergency management program, he is responsible for emergency preparedness, planning, coordination, training, response, recovery, and mitigation efforts for the largest county in the United States.
During his tenure with Los Angeles County and in previous positions in the field, Mr. McGowan has led preparedness, response, and recovery efforts for multiple major disasters warranting presidential disaster declarations. Among those incidents he has tended to are several wildfires within the greater Los Angeles region, including the catastrophic fires in the area in early 2025. He has also addressed debris flows, severe winter storms, the COVID-19 outbreak, incidents of mass violence, and events involving misuse of hazardous materials. Prior to his service with Los Angeles County, he worked alongside the chief of police at the City of Santa Monica Police Department, and then at the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office within the Office of Emergency Services.
Mr. McGowan has undergone extensive emergency management training, including FEMA’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy program and its Vanguard Executive Crisis Leaders Fellowship, the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s Executive Leaders Program, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government Leadership in Crises program.
Kevin McGowan received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003 and earned his master of public policy from the Pepperdine School of Public Policy in 2010.
IAN V. ROWE
Ian V. Rowe is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on education and upward mobility, family formation, and adoption. He is also the cofounder of Vertex Partnership Academies, a Bronx-based network of virtues-based International Baccalaureate high schools, and cofounder of the National Summer School Initiative.
Ambitious from an early age and earnest about educational excellence and the thriving of all young people, Mr. Rowe has dedicated his career to a number of organizations and causes that share his vision. He participated in Teach for America and served as deputy director of postsecondary success at the Gates Foundation, senior vice president of strategic partnership and public affairs at MTV, director of strategy and performance measurement at the White House’s USA Freedom Corps office, and as president and cofounder of Third Millennium Media, before becoming chief executive officer of Public Prep, a nonprofit network of public charter schools based in the South Bronx and Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Mr. Rowe is a senior visiting fellow at the Woodson Center and a writer for its 1776 Unites campaign. He has also written for the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Examiner, and he is a frequent on-air contributor to radio programs. In 2022 he published Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power, a book that serves as a complementary tool supporting his work at AEI’s FREE Initiative, which cultivates a deeper understanding of how family, religion, education, and entrepreneurship morally shape children. He also serves as chair of the board at the nonprofit adoption organization Spence-Chapin.
Ian Rowe earned a bachelor of science in computer science engineering from Cornell University, and he holds a master of business administration from Harvard Business School.
CANDIDATES FOR DEGREES AWARDED BY THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY Master of Public Policy
MERY BAGDYAN
International Relations and National Security
State and Local Policy
RICHARD WILLIAM BARNES
American Policy and Politics
International Relations and National Security
DARREN SCOTT BORSINI
International Relations and National Security
AVERY NICOLE CAUSEY
Applied Economic Policy
International Relations and National Security
SOPHIE ELISABETH COLLINS
Applied Economic Policy
BAELY GULBINS
Applied Economic Policy
State and Local Policy
MICHAEL CHARLES BILLY HENRY
International Relations and National Security Dispute Resolution
ALISSA NICOLE LARUE
Applied Economic Policy
ASMAA LATIFI
American Policy and Politics
International Relations and National Security
MATTHEW M. MARTENS
Applied Economic Policy
International Relations and National Security
CHRISTIAN LORENZ WORTH MAYER
International Relations and National Security
CONNOR CHRISTOPHER MERK
American Policy and Politics
Applied Economic Policy
TORI AUTUMN MICHAELIAN
American Policy and Politics
Applied Economic Policy
NATHAN ROY PETERSON
American Policy and Politics
State and Local Policy
ZACHARY ROGERS
State and Local Policy
FLORA SEDRAKYAN
International Relations and National Security
State and Local Policy
MARGARET TAITE TAYLOR
American Policy and Politics
State and Local Policy
YICHI ZHANG
Applied Economic Policy
Dispute Resolution
This is not an official graduation list.
Accessible Seating