Lieutenant Governor among Keynote Speakers at 2019 Spring Commencement Ceremonies

The Georgia Institute of Technology will welcome back to campus Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan as the keynote speaker for the May 4 morning undergraduate commencement ceremony.

In addition to Duncan, Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin, former astronaut and Georgia Tech Ph.D. alumna Sandra Magnus, and Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development Bonnie Ferri will give addresses during the 257^th Commencement ceremonies May 3-4 at McCamish Pavilion on the Georgia Tech campus. More than 3,800 degrees will be awarded during the three ceremonies.

The Ph.D. ceremony will begin at 9 a.m., doors open at 7:30 a.m., May 4, and feature the traditional hooding of the candidates and a keynote address by Ferri. In addition to serving as vice provost, Ferri is a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Ferri previously was the associate chair for Undergraduate Affairs in ECE and the associate chair for Graduate Affairs in ECE. She does research in embedded control systems and in engineering education. Ferri has received many honors and awards including the 2017 IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award and the 2016 Regent’s Award for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. She is the co-chair of a campus-wide commission at Georgia Tech on the future of higher education, and she was an invited speaker at a National Academy of Engineering workshop on education.

After the Ph.D. ceremony, Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson will host the President’s Graduation Celebration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Tech Tower Lawn, or the Student Center Ballroom in the event of rain.

The master’s ceremony is scheduled for 3 to 5:30 p.m., and doors open at 1:30 p.m.

Magnus, who earned her Ph.D. from the School of Material Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech in 1996, will deliver the keynote address for the master’s ceremony. Currently the principal of AstroPlanetview, Magnus is the former executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession.

Selected for the NASA Astronaut Corps in April 1996, Magnus flew in space on the STS-112 shuttle mission in 2002, and on the final shuttle flight, STS-135, in 2011. In addition, she flew to the International Space Station on STS-126 in November 2008, served as flight engineer and science officer on Expedition 18, and returned home on STS-119 after four and a half months on board. Following her assignment on Station, she served at NASA Headquarters in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Her last duty at NASA, after STS-135, was as deputy chief of the Astronaut Office.

The two bachelor’s ceremonies are scheduled for Saturday, May 5. The morning ceremony will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m., and Duncan will deliver the keynote address. A former professional baseball player and successful entrepreneur, Duncan was elected Georgia’s 12th Lieutenant Governor in November 2018. After a successful baseball career at Georgia Tech, Duncan was drafted by the Florida Marlins’ organization. He spent six seasons playing baseball in the minor leagues, advancing as high as AAA before a shoulder injury forced his retirement in the early 2000s.

Duncan went on to start a small marketing firm and several other ventures before serving as CEO of a health technology startup.

Tickets are required, and the will call window opens at 7 a.m. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. This ceremony includes the following academic disciplines:

College of Computing: Computer Science, Computational Media

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts: Computational Media

College of Design: Industrial Design, Architecture, Music Technology

College of Sciences: Psychology, Discrete Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and Biology

College of Engineering: Environmental, Civil, Biomedical, Materials Science and Engineering, Industrial, and Aerospace.

The second bachelor’s ceremony will be held from 3 to 5:30 p.m. and will feature an address from Georgia Lottery President and Chief Executive Officer Gretchen Corbin. Corbin has led the Georgia Lottery Corporation since January 2018 after serving as commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia. She previously served as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and held a variety of roles at the Georgia Department of Economic Development. She also serves as a member of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute External Advisory Board.

Tickets are required, and the will call window opens at 1 p.m. Doors open at 1:30 p.m.

This ceremony includes the following academic disciplines:

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts: Literature, Media, and Communication; Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies; Public Policy; History, Technology, and Society; International Affairs and Modern Languages; International Affairs; Economics and International Affairs; Global Economics and Modern Languages; and Economics

Scheller College of Business: Business Administration

College of Sciences: Neuroscience, Biochemistry, Applied Physics, Physics, and Chemistry

College of Engineering: Chemical and Biomolecular, Nuclear and Radiological, Computer, Electrical, and Mechanical

More than 2,230 undergraduates will receive bachelor’s degrees. The master’s ceremony will award 1,400 master’s degrees, and the Ph.D. ceremony will award 170 doctorates.