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Gannon University proudly conferred nearly 100 master and doctoral degrees in health sciences and healthcare-related fields to members of the Class of 2026 during its Commencement ceremony for the Ruskin campus on Saturday, May 16 at the Bradenton Convention Center. 

Gannon University President Walter Iwanenko, Ph.D., awarded degrees to graduates in attendance. This year’s graduating class of 96 students will receive 25 Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees, 21 Occupational Therapy Doctorate degrees, 30 Master of Physician Assistant Science degrees, one Doctor of Philosophy degree, one Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, 18 Master of Science degrees in Speech-Language Pathology, one Doctor of Philosophy and one Doctor of Nursing Practice. 

This year’s keynote speaker was Stephen Nelson, M.D. ’79, chief medical examiner for Florida’s 10th Judicial Circuit and a graduate of Gannon University.  

Dr. Nelson earned his undergraduate degree in biology from ÃûæÂÖ±²¥ in 1979 before going on to complete advanced medical and pathology training, including fellowships in neuropathology and forensic pathology. Throughout his distinguished career, he has overseen thousands of medical-legal death investigations across Florida and has served in numerous statewide leadership roles related to forensic science and public safety.  

He has contributed to several nationally recognized investigations and has been widely respected for his expertise in forensic pathology, neuropathology and medical examiner system leadership.  

The Ruskin commencement ceremony highlights ÃûæÂÖ±²¥’s continued commitment to educating healthcare professionals who are prepared to lead and serve in communities across the country. 

ÃûæÂÖ±²¥ also celebrated its Erie campus commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 9, where 738 degrees were conferred to graduates representing 39 countries. 

More about the speaker:

Dr. Nelson earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Gannon University in 1979. He went on to complete a Master’s degree in Experimental Neuropathology at the Roswell Park Memorial Institute graduate division of SUNY Buffalo in 1982, followed by his medical degree in 1985.  He served his residency in anatomic pathology and a fellowship in neuropathology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, followed by a fellowship in forensic pathology at the University of Miami. 

Dr. Nelson is the Chief Medical Examiner for Florida’s 10th Judicial Circuit, a three-county area in Central Florida that includes Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties, half-way between Tampa and Orlando. He supervises a staff of twelve, with three physician/pathologists, and ancillary personnel including toxicologists, anthropologists, and odontologists. 

Dr. Nelson is “hands on” and has personally supervised thousands of medical-legal death investigations throughout Florida, including many high-profile gubernatorial assignments such as deaths in Florida’s electric chair and the resulting issues of possible “cruel and unusual punishment.” 

In addition to Dr. Nelson’s busy day-to-day forensic pathology practice, he maintains a busy consulting neuropathology practice for medical examiner offices throughout Florida and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. He was the consulting neuropathologist in the 2005 death of Terry Schiavo that sparked a national debate on an individual’s right-to-die, and again for celebrity Anna Nicole Smith who died following an overdose of prescription drugs in 2007. He regularly appears in both State courts and Federal courts throughout Florida and the Southeast. 

For 18+ years he served on Florida’s Medical Examiners Commission, the oversight and regulatory board for how medical-legal death investigations are conducted in the Sunshine State. The majority of those years as Chairman.  He has served as a gubernatorial appointee on Florida’s Violent Crime and Drug Control Council and on Florida’s Organ and Tissue Procurement and Transplantation Advisory Board. 

In 2005, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for his assistance in a complex investigation involving the death of a police officer that went unsolved for many years. In 1991, he was awarded the Research Award for the American Academy of Forensic Sciences for his work on sustained contact high-voltage electrocution. 

Dr. Nelson was born in Bradford, Pa.  He and his wife Sue live in Lakeland, Fla. with their two Doberman pinschers.  They have two children: Katie is enrolled in law school, and Matt is finishing his MBA degree.