2,000 winter graduates take the stage at UNLV

When Kiran Mathew received her UNLV diploma Tuesday, the newly minted college graduate already had a resume stuffed with professional achievements.

At 23, Mathew spent the past three years working on patent-pending HIV research at the school's Nevada Institute for Personalized Medicine, co-authoring three research articles on the topic in a peer-reviewed science journal. The aspiring pediatric cardiologist also tackled part-time sales jobs while shadowing a local pediatrician and volunteering to help care for the sick at area hospitals.

"I don't think a lot of undergraduates really view their bachelor's degree as a career," Mathew said hours before walking across the stage at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center during the school's winter commencement ceremony. "UNLV really opened my eyes to the fact that you really need to take advantage of the education that you're given here and take advantage of the amazing people and faculty who are here to teach you not just about what you learn in a classroom, but also about life."

The biology graduate — who says she drew inspiration from stories about her late grandfather, a reconstructive surgeon in the Indian army — was among nearly 2,000 students earning a degree from UNLV on Tuesday, an increase of about 5 percent compared with 1,816 last year.

Mathew was also one of three students recognized for their achievements by President Len Jessup at the graduation ceremony. She was joined by Ludwing "LV" Vaca, 39, a Bolivia native who earned a master's degree in architecture, and Kayla Shim, 22, a Hawaii native getting a bachelor's degree in accounting.

"This semester's spotlight students have impacted the highest levels of science, business and architecture," Jessup said. "We're proud to call them UNLV grads."

Tuesday's graduates range from 16 to 72 years old and hail from 38 states and 54 countries, mirroring UNLV's broadly diverse student body. U.S. News & World Report ranks the university's undergraduate base as one of the nation's most diverse, tying with four other schools at second place.

"The main reason I went back to school is to keep learning. I find a lot of gratification from sharing that with other people, so I hope to teach in the future," said Vaca, who moved to California from Bolivia as a teenager and spent 12 years as an architect in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Princeton, N.J., before pursuing a master's degree at UNLV. "It's been a really amazing experience."

Contact Ana Ley at aley@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Find her on Twitter: @la__ley