Texas State prepares for winter commencement

SAN MARCOS – The vice president of investor relations for Dell, a distinguished professor of English and the Texas commissioner of health will be the keynote speakers at three commencement ceremonies Dec. 19 and 20 at Texas State University-San Marcos.

Candidates from the College of Applied Arts and the College of Business Administration will participate in the 7 p.m. ceremony on Friday, Dec. 19. Candidates from the College of Fine Arts and Communication and the College of Liberal Arts will receive their degrees at the 9:30 a.m. ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 20. Candidates from the College of Education, the College of Health Professions and the College of Science will participate in the 2 p.m. ceremony on Saturday. All three ceremonies will be held in Strahan Coliseum on the Texas State campus.

There are 1,958 candidates for graduation at Texas State this December.

Lynn Tyson, vice president of investor relations for Dell, will deliver the commencement address at the Friday evening ceremony. In her current position, Tyson is responsible for Dell’s relationships with investors and financial analysts. She is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and she frequently contributes to NIRI’s monthly publications on topics such as investor relations best practices.

Paul Cohen, professor of English and director of graduate studies for the Texas State Department of English, will deliver the commencement address at the Saturday morning ceremony. In 2003, Cohen was named a Piper Professor by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. The award is given annually to professors in Texas who have demonstrated exemplary dedication and service to teaching at the collegiate level. In 1996, he was named the first recipient of Texas State’s Distinguished Teaching Professorship, made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Texas Commissioner of Health Eduardo Sanchez will deliver the commencement address at the Saturday afternoon ceremony. Sanchez heads the Texas Department of Health, which has a staff of about 5,000 and an annual budget of $1.7 billion. He oversees one of the largest laboratories in the world plus programs ranging from immunizations and environmental health to epidemiology and disease prevention and control.