Texas State prepares for summer 2017 commencement events

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
August 8, 2017

Brigadier General John R. Michel, United States Air Force, retired, will be the keynote speaker at one of three commencement ceremonies to be held at Texas State University on Friday, August 11, in Strahan Coliseum.

Michel will speak during the 6 p.m. ceremony, to be attended by degree candidates from the College of Liberal Arts, College of Science and Engineering, University College and Graduate College.

Degree candidates from the College of Applied Arts, McCoy College of Business Administration and Graduate College will attend the 10 a.m. ceremony.

Degree candidates from the College of Education, College of Fine Arts and Communication, College of Health Professions and Graduate College will attend the 2 p.m. ceremony.

More than 1,900 students are candidates for undergraduate and graduate degrees at Texas State this summer.

Michel earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Texas State in 1987. He is co-founder and chief executive officer of the General Leadership Foundation and author of (No More) Mediocre Me: How Saying No to the Status Quo Will Propel You From Ordinary to Extraordinary (Morgan James Publishing, 2013).

Prior to his retirement from the military, Michel served as the commanding general, NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan; NATO Training Mission/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan; and commander, 438th Air Expeditionary Wing, Kabul, Afghanistan. Michel entered the Air Force in 1988. He served in a number of command and staff assignments, including USTRANSCOM Liaison to North American Aerospace Defense Command-U.S. Northern Command; chief, rated staff assignments and deputy for senior officer matters, Headquarters Air Mobility Command; and deputy director, Air, Central Command Deployment and Distribution Operations Center.

He has commanded a tanker squadron, expeditionary operations group, air refueling wing, air expeditionary wing and deployed NATO major command. As a command pilot, he logged more than 3,400 hours in the C-17A, C-5A/B, KC-135R/RT, C-21A, C-208, T-37B and T-38A aircraft.

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,849 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 180,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.