Jarryd Wallace, four-time Paralympian and winner of two bronze medals, will deliver the spring undergraduate Commencement address at the University of Georgia on May 9 in Sanford Stadium. The ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Paige Carmichael, professor of veterinary pathology in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, will deliver the address at the graduate ceremonies on May 8 in Stegeman Coliseum. The master’s and specialist ceremony begins at 10 a.m. with the doctoral ceremony following at 2:30 p.m.
Jarryd Wallace (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images for IPC)
Wallace’s athletic career shifted at 20 years old when his right leg was amputated from the knee down. Born and raised in Athens, he was a state champion cross country runner and was attending UGA on a track scholarship when complications from compartment syndrome changed his plans. After 10 surgeries in two years, he made the decision to have his leg amputated.
The surgery gave him a second chance, and less than a year and a half later, he set a world record in the 100-meter sprint at the Parapan American Games. Now he is a three-time gold medalist in the World Para Athletics Championships and has competed in the past four Paralympic Games.
After years of professional success in sprinting, including a bronze medal in the 2020 Paralympic Games, Wallace decided to shift to the long jump. The transition, while difficult, proved to be an energizing challenge for him. And a successful one. In the 2024 Paralympic Games, he won a bronze medal for the long jump.
Wallace is the CEO and founder of the RIVL Foundation, which focuses on prosthetic innovations, amputee rehabilitative research and community outreach. He has also collaborated with prosthetic companies to help make running blades more cost-effective and accessible.
He graduated from UGA with his bachelor’s degree in 2019 and lives near Athens with his wife, Lea, and two sons.
Paige Carmichael (Submitted photo)
Graduate speaker Carmichael is a renowned leader in veterinary medicine and a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor. She is known particularly for her research on inherited neurological diseases in dog breeds including Bernese mountain dogs, Jack Russell terriers and Irish setters.
Her studies have led to the development of groundbreaking tests and therapeutics to treat animals with these diseases. Carmichael’s research team was also the first to describe a spinal cord disease known as FeLV-associated myelopathy, which can affect cats with feline leukemia virus.
She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Tuskegee University in 1987 and began working as a temporary instructor on UGA’s Tifton campus. Carmichael then completed a combined pathology residency and doctorate program at UGA and became a board-certified pathologist in 1995.
In addition to the Meigs Professorship, Carmichael has received several honors and awards at UGA including the Lilly Teaching Fellowship, Carl Norden-Pfizer Distinguished Teaching Award and Fulfilling the Dream Award. Tuskegee also recognized her with the Outstanding Alumnus Award.
Outside of research, Carmichael takes great satisfaction in her teaching and co-founded the Teaching Academy Fellows Program at UGA to help early-career faculty improve their instruction skills. She has also served on the boards of the UGA Athletic Association and the Georgia Museum of Art.
For more information about Commencement, please visit commencement.uga.edu.
