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Ferris State University graduate Nate Mathewson showed off the numerous cords and stoles he earned to wear during commencement on Saturday. But tucked among the honors was a pin of a blue jay and a small stuffed red cardinal clipped to his black gown.

“That’s for professor Klatt,” he said, paying tribute to a beloved professor who passed away unexpectedly this week.

Dr. Paul Klatt, a nationally respected expert on birds and the force behind Ferris State’s Osprey Web Cam, was honored by President Bill Pink with emeriti status during Saturday’s commencement celebrating graduates of the College of Arts, Sciences and Education.

Beth Zimmer, chair of Ferris State’s Biological Sciences Department, said Klatt strived to make learning fun.

“Dr. Paul Klatt was a colleague, a professor, a teacher, a mentor, and a friend,” she told graduates and their supporters. “However you knew him, as Dr. Klatt, or simpl ....

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