The University of Georgia will welcome its newest alumni on May 8 and 9 as 5,971 spring undergraduates and 953 expected summer undergraduates, along with 1,857 graduate students — a total of 8,781 — 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 9. Jarryd Wallace, four-time Paralympian and winner of two bronze medals, will give the address.
Born and raised in Athens, Wallace was a state champion cross country runner and was attending UGA on a track scholarship when complications from compartment syndrome changed his plans. During his junior year in 2010, he started feeling pain in his right shin that led to 10 surgeries over two years. After those surgeries, he made the decision to have his leg amputated from the knee down.
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. He is now 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. Wallace graduated from UGA with his bachelor’s degree from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences in 2019 and lives near Athens with his wife, Lea, and two sons.
Kate Hall, who will receive a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, has been selected by her peers to deliver a speech on behalf of her graduating class.
UGA will recognize 152 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 260 doctoral candidates and 1,597 master’s and specialist degree students will be eligible to walk in the graduate ceremonies in Stegeman Coliseum on May 8. The master’s and specialist ceremony will begin at 10 a.m., and the doctoral ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m. Paige Carmichael, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor and University Professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s department of pathology, will deliver the address at the graduate ceremonies.
Dr. Carmichael received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1987. She completed a combined pathology residency/Ph.D. at UGA in 1994 and became board certified in veterinary anatomic pathology in 1995.
Her passion is teaching, and she has been awarded numerous teaching awards including the Lilly Teaching Fellowship, the Norden-Pfizer Teaching Award and the Tyler Award for Teaching Innovation. She was inducted into the university’s Teaching Academy in 2005. In 2006, she became the first African American professor at UGA to receive the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship.
Dr. Carmichael has served in many leadership roles and was the College of Veterinary Medicine’s associate dean for academic affairs from 2006 to 2015. She is one of the founders and coordinators of the UGA Teaching Academy Early Career Fellows Program and is the co-chair of the UGA Teaching Academy. She is the director of the UGA Undergraduate Certificate in One Health program and was elected to the board of directors of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in 2021. She runs the Diagnostic Ocular Pathology Service. In 2023, she received UGA’s university-wide Faculty Service Award. She has also been honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from both universities from which she graduated.
The clear bag policy will be in effect for all ceremonies. Parking is free and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The graduate and undergraduate ceremonies will be broadcast live on the Commencement homepage.
For more information, please visit https://commencement.uga.edu.
