Doctoral candidate Najla Ghazi Amundson has been selected as the student speaker at NDSU’s Graduate/Professional Commencement scheduled for Friday, May 14, at 4 p.m. in the Fargodome.

The media relations director for NDSU University Relations, Amundson’s dissertation is titled "Prophet vs. Profit: Perspective by Incongruity and Mary Kay Ash's Corporate Rhetoric,” and her doctoral faculty adviser is Mark Meister, Walter F. and Verna Gehrts Endowed Professor.

“The commencement speaker committee selected Najla as our first graduate commencement ceremony speaker from a group of highly talented graduate students,” said David Wittrock, dean of the College of Graduate and Interdisciplinary Studies.

A native of Ohio, Amundson earned her bachelor’s degree at South Dakota State University in Brookings and her master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Amundson and her husband, Paul, have four sons: Zachary, 15; Evan, 12; Zayd, 9; and Ethan, 6.

Amundson has enjoyed a successful 20-year career in media and education. She was a reporter at WDAZ-TV in Grand Forks, N.D.; assistant professor at the University of North Dakota teaching journalism courses; public relations director at Minnkota Power Cooperative in Grand Forks; and anchor and producer at WDAY-TV in Fargo. She also taught as an adjunct faculty member at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.

“As a parent of four children, a woman, a first-generation American and a current NDSU employee, it’s a great privilege for me to speak to my fellow graduates,” Amundson said. “This honor is very meaningful to me and my family. I hope my boys are proud to see Mom giving a speech.”