More than 4,600 candidates for bachelor’s, master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees will be honored during eight commencement ceremonies May 8-10 at Texas State University.
During the various ceremonies, TXST will also award four Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, degrees to Richard A. Castro, Jack Martin, Taylor Sheridan and Nathali Parker Weisman, along with four posthumous degrees to Javier Alfredo Cantu, Sean Keys, Kelsey Bond Lichtenauer and Brianna Christina Williams.
All commencement ceremonies will be held in Strahan Arena at the University Events Center. Transportation and parking information is available at www.txstate.edu/commencement.
Degree candidates from the College of Education and Graduate College will attend the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony May 8.
Degree candidates from the McCoy College of Business and Graduate College will attend the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony May 8.
Degree candidates from the College of Fine Arts and Communication and Graduate College will attend the 6 p.m. commencement ceremony May 8.
Degree candidates from the Department of Anthropology; Department of History; Center for International Studies; Department of Philosophy; Department of Psychology; Department of Sociology; Department of World Languages and Literatures; and Graduate College will attend the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony May 9.
Degree candidates from the Department of English; Department of Geography and Environmental Studies; Department of Political Science; Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Ingram School of Engineering; Department of Engineering Technology; and Graduate College will attend the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony May 9.
Degree candidates from the Department Agricultural Sciences; Department of Biology; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Department of Computer Science; Department of Mathematics; Department of Physics; B.S. in Interdisciplinary Science; Ph.D. in Materials Science, Engineering and Commercialization; and Graduate College will attend the 6 p.m. commencement ceremony May 9.
Degree candidates from the College of Applied Arts and Graduate College will attend the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony May 10.
Degree candidates from the College of Health Professions and Graduate College will attend the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony May 11.
Posthumous degrees will be awarded to Keys during the 2 p.m. ceremony May 8; Lichtenauer during the 10 a.m. ceremony May 9; Cantu during the 2 p.m. ceremony May 9; and Williams during the 2 p.m. ceremony May 10.
Honorary degrees
Castro, Martin, Sheridan and Weisman will be the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd individuals to be so honored by the university. Castro and Martin will receive their honorary degrees during the 2 p.m. ceremony May 8. Sheridan will receive his honorary degree during the 6 p.m. ceremony May 8. Weisman will receive her honorary degree during the 6 p.m. ceremony May 9.
Castro is an El Paso businessman, philanthropist and McDonald’s largest Hispanic owner/operator, with 27 restaurants in Texas and more than 2,000 employees. He received his B.S. in education from TXST in 1970, was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1997, and was a recipient of the College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 2013. The Richard A. Castro Legacy Club in Strahan Arena, and the under-construction Richard A. Castro residence hall have been named to recognize his generous giving to TXST. He has established scholarships benefitting student athletes and students from the College of Liberal Arts.
Martin is widely recognized as a thought leader in communications, politics and business. In 1988, after gaining prominence as a top adviser to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, he founded Public Strategies Incorporated (PSI). Martin has served on the boards of the LBJ Foundation, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Baylor College of Medicine, as chair of Baylor Scott & White Health, and as chair of The Texas State University System’s Board of Regents from 1985-1991. He was honored as a TXST Distinguished Alumni in 1990 and was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2023.
Sheridan attended TXST as a theatre major until 1991. After nearly 20 years as an actor, Sheridan transitioned to screenwriting and directing at the age of 40. He has written several films, including the screenplay for Sicario, for which he was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for best original screenplay. Sheridan is a co-creator of the Paramount Network television series Yellowstone, as well as Landman, 1923, 1883, Tulsa King, Lioness and others. In March 2021, he was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Weisman graduated from TXST in 1998 with honors. She is the co-owner, CEO and president of KLP Construction Supply, which she founded with her sister in 2012 to become the go-to supplier for prime contractors and customers with large projects. In January 2024, Governor Greg Abbott appointed Weisman as chairwoman of the Governor’s Commission for Women. Weisman also serves on three committees for the Austin and DFW Chapters of the Association of General Contractors and on two committees for the Texas Asphalt Pavement Association.
Texas State awarded its first honorary doctorate in 1962, when the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, was conferred upon Lyndon Baines Johnson. At the time, Johnson was vice president of the United States and had already served as a U.S. representative and a U.S. senator. He would go on to serve as president of the United States, the only president to have graduated from a Texas university. Johnson graduated from TXST in 1930.
While there is no substitute for attending a commencement ceremony in person, Texas State will stream the ceremonies live over the internet for friends and family members who are unable to attend. That live-stream is available on the Texas State commencement web page at www.txst.edu/commencement.