University of Tennessee at Chattanooga spring commencement will be celebrated with five ceremonies and approximately 1,500 degrees awarded over two days on Friday, May 6, and Saturday, May 7. All ceremonies will take place inside McKenzie Arena.
The ceremonies are as follows:
• Friday at 2:30 p.m. Graduate commencement for recipients of advanced degrees. Speaker: Mina Sartipi, director of the Center for Urban Informatics and Progress and Guerry professor in computational science.
• Saturday at 9 a.m. College of Arts and Sciences (last name beginning A-K). Speaker: Gregory O’Dea, associate dean of the Honors College and UC Foundation professor in English.
• Saturday at 1 p.m. College of Engineering and Computer Science and Gary W. Rollins College of Business. Speaker: Thomas Lyons, Clarence E. Harris chair of Excellence in Entrepreneurship and professor of marketing and entrepreneurship.
• Saturday at 4 p.m. College of Health, Education and Professional Studies. Speaker: Christine Benz Smith, director of the School of Nursing and Chief Health Affairs officer.
• Saturday at 7 p.m. College of Arts and Sciences (last name beginning L-Z). Speaker: Tammy Garland, professor of Criminal Justice and Faculty Senate president.
This will be the 259th overall commencement for the University, which was founded in 1886 as the then-private Chattanooga University. The first UTC graduation ceremony took place Aug. 23, 1969, in the Tivoli Theater in downtown Chattanooga.