Texas State Holds 2019 Commencement Events for Record Summer Class

Mark K. Updegrove

More than 2,000 students, a record number, are candidates for undergraduate and graduate degrees at Texas State University this summer. Commencement ceremonies were held August 9 on the San Marcos campus. 

Mark K. Updegrove, president and CEO of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation, was the keynote speaker at one of three commencement ceremonies.

Updegrove spoke during the 10 a.m. ceremony, attended by degree candidates from the College of Education, College of Fine Arts and Communication, College of Health Professions and Graduate College.

Degree candidates from the College of Liberal Arts, College of Science and Engineering, University College and Graduate College attended the 2 p.m. ceremony. 

Degree candidates from the College of Applied Arts, McCoy College of Business Administration and Graduate College attended the 6 p.m. ceremony.

In addition to his role at the LBJ Foundation, Updegrove serves as presidential historian for ABC News. From 2009 to 2017, he was the director of the LBJ Presidential Library where he hosted the Civil Rights Summit in 2014, which included Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and oversaw a major renovation of the library’s core museum exhibits.

Updegrove is the author of four books on the presidency, including "The Last Republicans: Inside the Extraordinary Relationship Between George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush" and "Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency." He has written for The New York Times, The Hill, Politico, The Daily Beast, Time, Parade and National Geographic. He appears regularly on CNN and MSNBC. He has conducted exclusive interviews with five U.S. presidents.