Spring 2012 Commencement Speaker Announced

Penn State Schuylkill will be holding Spring 2012 graduation on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 10:00 am in the Gymnasium, Lower Level of the Health and Wellness Building. Schuylkill County District Attorney Karen Byrnes-Noon will be the keynote speaker.

Schuylkill County District Attorney Karen Byrnes-Noon is a 1977 graduate of Pottsville Area High School.  She began her studies at Penn State Schuylkill and then finished at the University Park campus with a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration of Justice.  She graduated in May 1981 with highest distinction. In 1985 she graduated from The Dickinson School of Law.  She was a law clerk for the now retired President Judge George Heffner.  She has been a prosecutor for over twenty-five years, twenty-three of them in Schuylkill County.  In January she was named the County's first woman District Attorney.  She was the first attorney to present DNA evidence in Schuylkill County and the first to present this type of evidence in a homicide case.

Of all the jobs she has had, she says being a mom has been the most fun, challenging, and rewarding.  She and her husband of twenty years, David, have two children, Daniel and Molly.

Karen is a member of St. Joseph's Church in Ashland, past president of the former Immaculate Heart Home and School, former treasurer of the Spartan Football Half-time Club, a member of the LAOH Girardville Division, the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce, the Pennsylvania District Attorney's Association, and the Pennsylvania and Schuylkill County Bar Associations.  She is also an active member of the American Cancer Relay for life team, "The Sole Sisters."

Karen wishes all the Penn State Schuylkill graduates great success in their endeavors.