The University of Georgia will welcome its newest alumni on May 11 and 12 as 6,008 undergraduates and 1,651 graduate students—a total of 7,659—have met requirements to participate in the university’s spring Commencement ceremonies.
The undergraduate ceremony is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Sanford Stadium on May 12. Leah Brown, an orthopedic surgeon, UGA alumna and All-American for the GymDogs, will give the address.
Brown received her bachelor’s degree in genetics from UGA in 1998, where she was a 14-time NCAA All-American and a two-time NCAA National Gymnastics Champion. She earned a medical degree at The Ohio State University and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation on a full U.S. Navy Health Professions Scholarship.
She served for two years as a battalion surgeon at Camp Pendleton. In 2006, she deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where she served as a medical aid station director. Brown completed a four-year residency in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Naval Medical Center San Diego and subsequently joined the center as a faculty member.
In 2012, Brown was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, where she supported the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force as head of the department of orthopedic surgery. She is the recipient of nine military honors and awards, including the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal and Navy Commendation Medal. She continues her military service in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Brown is also the co-founder and owner of Urgently Ortho, an immediate access orthopedic clinic, and she has served on the UGA Foundation Board of Trustees since 2019.
Sudhan Chitgopkar, who will receive a bachelor’s degree in computer science and international affairs, is the student speaker for the undergraduate ceremony.
UGA will recognize 109 students as First Honor Graduates for maintaining a 4.0 cumulative GPA in all work attempted at UGA as well as all college-level transfer work prior to or following enrollment at the university.
An estimated 265 doctoral candidates and 1,386 master’s and specialist degree students will be eligible to walk in the graduate ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on May 11 in Sanford Stadium. Charles S. Bullock, University Professor of Public and International Affairs, will deliver the graduate Commencement address.
Bullock holds the Richard B. Russell Chair in Political Science and is a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor at UGA, where he has worked since 1968.
Twice recognized by Georgia Trend as one of the 100 most influential Georgians, Bullock has served as a consultant to the attorneys general in 11 states and to more than 100 state and local governments. Since the 1970s, he has consulted on statewide redistricting litigation in more than a dozen states.
Bullock’s teaching and research specialties are legislative politics and Southern politics. He is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of more than 35 books and more than 250 articles and chapters. He is a past president of the Southern Political Science Association and the Georgia Political Science Association, past chair of the Legislative Studies Group, and he has served on the executive councils of the American Political Science Association, Southern Political Science Association and Georgia Political Science Association.
The clear bag policy will be in effect for both ceremonies. Parking is free and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Suggested parking areas include, Hull Deck (W05), South Campus Deck (S11), East Campus Deck (E04), and Performing Arts Center Deck (E20).
The Tate Center Deck and lot E12 are reserved for designated participants by permit only.
The graduate and undergraduate ceremonies will be broadcast live on the Commencement homepage. The undergraduate ceremony broadcast will begin at 7:25 p.m. on May 12 and the graduate ceremony broadcast will begin at 9:25 a.m. on May 11.
For more information, please visit https://commencement.uga.edu