Kennesaw State University, which was recently classified as a Carnegie doctoral research institution, will hold five graduation ceremonies in the KSU Convocation Center on the Kennesaw Campus, beginning with Commencement on Tuesday, May 10, at 10 a.m. Almost 3,000 students will graduate on May 10 and 11. The University, the 45th largest public university in the country, graduates approximately 5,600 students each year during fall, spring and summer commencements. 

MAY 10, COMMENCEMENT SCHEDULE:

Speaker: Brian Kemp, Georgia Secretary of State

Michael J. Coles College of Business and College of Science and Mathematics – 10 a.m.

Brian Kemp has been Georgia Secretary of State since January 2010. Among the office’s responsibilities, the Secretary of State is charged with conducting secure, accessible and fair elections, the registration of corporations, the oversight and regulation of securities and the administration of professional license holders. He served in the Georgia State Senate from 2002 to 2006. Kemp served in committee leadership roles, including Chair of Public Safety & Homeland Security and Vice-Chair of Higher Education. He is the owner of Kemp Properties, a small business specializing in real estate investments and property management. Kemp earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture at the University of Georgia.

Speaker: Thomas Currin, dean of the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Kennesaw State University

College of Architecture and Construction Management, College of Computing and Software Engineering, and Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology – 3 p.m.

With more than 40 years of consulting and teaching expertise, Currin’s career has included the analysis and design of numerous transportation projects throughout the east coast. After completing his undergraduate civil engineering degree at University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth in 1972, Currin served in the United States Army. He earned a Master of Civil Engineering at North Carolina State University – Raleigh and then obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in civil engineering specializing in traffic engineering from the University of Connecticut. While teaching, Currin has served as an evaluator and commissioner of ABET, the primary accreditation agency for engineering in the United States.

Speaker: Belle Wheelan, president, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Graduate College – 7 p.m.

Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, is the first African-American and the first woman in this capacity. Her 40-year career includes the roles of faculty member, college president and Secretary of Education. Wheelan received her bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in Texas (1972) with a double major in psychology and sociology; her master’s degree from Louisiana State University (1974) in developmental educational psychology; and her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin (1984) in educational administration with a special concentration in community college leadership.

MAY 11, COMMENCEMENT SCHEDULE:

Speaker: Kim Menefee, senior vice president, WellStar Health System

College of the Arts, Leland and Clarice C. Bagwell College of Education, WellStar College of Health and Human Services, and University College – 10 a.m.

Kim Menefee is senior vice president of Strategic Community Development for WellStar Health System, the largest health system in Georgia and one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in the Southeast. In her more than 20-year career at WellStar, she has served in a variety of leadership capacities, leading brand development and marketing initiatives, lobbying and government relations efforts, community programming, development of a customer service initiative and physician liaison team. She is an active community leader and past Chair of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. Menefee received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Georgia.

Speaker: Rep. Ed Setzler, Georgia General Assembly

College of Humanities and Social Sciences – 3 p.m.

Rep. Ed Setzler has served northwest Cobb County in the Georgia House of Representatives since 2005. Setzler serves as the chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology and is a member of the Judiciary Noncivil, Education, Transportation, Appropriations, and Rules Committees. He served from 2011-2013 as the chairman of the 19-member Cobb legislative delegation and has served as a subcommittee chairman on the Judiciary Noncivil Committee since 2011. Setzler serves on the advisory committee for Kennesaw State’s Department of Political Science. A graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School, he earned a B.S. in physics from Furman University in 1992 and served as a U.S. Army officer for nine years.