Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia has announced speakers for its spring commencement ceremonies for undergraduate and graduate students on May 9.
U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston of Savannah will speak at the undergraduate ceremony in Sanford Stadium at 9:30 a.m. In case of severe weather, the ceremony will be moved to Stegeman Coliseum and split into two sessions, at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.
Stan Collender, a managing director at Qorvis Communications and an expert on federal fiscal and monetary policies, will speak at the ceremony for students receiving master’s, doctoral and specialist in education degrees. The ceremony will be in Stegeman Coliseum at 2:30 p.m.
“Jack Kingston is one of the most respected voices in Congress on fiscal and defense matters and has been invaluable in helping the University of Georgia in our relations with federal agencies,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams.
“Stan Collender’s extensive experience dealing with the complexities of the federal budget and monetary policies enables him to provide important perspective and context for the economic problems currently facing our country.
“These speakers will bring messages of wisdom, hope and inspiration and we are delighted to have them address our graduates this spring.”
Kingston, whose father was a faculty member at UGA, grew up in Athens and graduated from UGA in 1978 with an economics degree. He was elected last November to his ninth term as congressman from Georgia’s coastal First District, which includes four large military installations and has a strong agricultural base.
He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and serves on the Defense Subcommittee, which oversees military-based funding. He is also the ranking member on the subcommittee on agriculture, rural development, Food and Drug Administration and related agencies.
Kingston has been a strong ally for UGA in obtaining grants and appropriations from federal agencies for research in agriculture and science and for construction of major facilities. A frequent guest on national television news shows, he has received a number of awards including the Spirit of Enterprise Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Collender has a 30-year background in financial and public affairs communications and is an authority on the U.S. budget and the congressional budget process. He has worked for budget committees in both the U.S. Senate and House and was on the staffs of three members of the House Budget and Ways and Means committees.
He writes a column on fiscal matters for the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call and is author of The Guide to the Federal Budget, a widely used textbook. He is also founder of “Capital Gains and Games,” a popular financial and political blog.
Before joining Qorvis Communications in 2006, he was general manager of the Washington office of Financial Dynamics Business Communications. He has worked with leading public relations firms including Fleishmann Hillard and Burson-Marsteller, and was director of federal budget policy for the accounting firms of Price Waterhouse and Touche Ross.
Additional information about spring commencement will be announced later, and details of both the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies will be available at http://www.reg.uga.edu/or.nsf/html/commencement.
