Derek Norton, an aspiring pediatrician, will be the student speaker at the Wartburg College Commencement Sunday, May 25.

Norton, a biochemistry major with a 3.95 GPA, was selected by Wartburg College President Darrel Colson to give the remarks on behalf of the Class of 2014 at the ceremonies beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Hoover Fieldhouse & Track in the Wartburg-Waverly Sports & Wellness Center.

He is the son of Jon and Denise Norton of Prior Lake, Minnesota.

Norton’s talk will be about “celebrating community,” the theme for the academic year 2010-11 when his class arrived on campus.

He intends to reminisce about notable academic and athletic accomplishments, including the impact of student service projects locally, around the nation and abroad.

“We have all grown together in such a short amount of time,” he said.

Norton has volunteered at Denver (Colo.) Health and the Waverly Health Center and participated in several undergraduate science research projects. One of his career goals “is to become a pediatrician and use my knowledge and skills to help make a difference in communities in need around the world.”

He is a Dean’s Honor Cord recipient with the one of the top 40 highest cumulative GPAs in his class, sang in the Ritterchor (men’s) and Kantorei (chapel) choirs, was involved in student senate, and was a founding member of the men’s rugby club. He also has been inducted into the Kappa Mu Epsilon (mathematics), Alpha Chi (top 10 percent of juniors and seniors) and Phi Eta Sigma (freshmen) national honor societies.