Matt Rudkin

WARSAW — Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy is pleased to announce this year’s graduation keynote speaker will be WSBT-TV Chief Meteorologist and Warsaw-native Matt Rudkin.

The graduation banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, at 2517 Banquet Hall in Warsaw.

Rudkin graduated from Purdue University with a degree in atmospheric science. In addition to his degree, he holds the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist certification from the American Meteorological Society, the highest distinction given to a broadcast meteorologist. While at Purdue, Rudkin was a volunteer at the National Weather Service and also worked at WLFI-TV in Lafayette. He spent his summer months at WSBT-TV in South Bend.

After completing his degree, Rudkin began his career at WSIL-TV in Carterville, Ill. After a year in Illinois, he got a call to “come home.” He was offered a weekend meteorologist position at WSBT-TV, the station an hour from his hometown. Quickly working up the ranks, he was promoted to Chief Meteorologist a few years later; a position he holds today. To date, Rudkin has visited more than 200 classrooms and has emceed more than 50 events.

For more information on KYLA or to learn how to get involved, visit the KYLA website at http://www.kosciuskoyouthleadership.org/ or on Facebook at @kosciuskoyouthleadership.