[428] 2,420-Plus Graduates Set To Participate In MTSU's 100th Spring Commencement

FOR RELEASE: April 19, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Office of News and Media Relations, 615-898-2919

2,420-PLUS GRADUATES SET TO PARTICIPATE IN MTSU’s 100TH SPRING COMMENCEMENT
Director of Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Special Assistant to the UT President to Speak at May 7 Ceremonies

(MURFREESBORO)—More than 2,420 degree candidates are expected to graduate during MTSU’s 100th spring commencement ceremonies, according to a report from Cathy Kirchner of the University’s Registrar’s Office.
MTSU will again feature dual ceremonies and dual speakers beginning at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, May 7, in Murphy Center. Of the 2,420 set to graduate during the event, 1,974 are undergraduates and 446 are graduate students, including 365 master’s candidates, 70 education- specialist recipients and 9 doctoral candidates. Two graduate students also will be receiving graduate certificates.
Candidates from the College of Graduate Studies, Jennings A. Jones College of Business and the College of Education and College of Mass Communication will receive their degrees in the morning ceremony. That afternoon, degrees will be conferred on candidates in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, College of Behavioral and Health Sciences and the University College.
• Director Mark Gwyn of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, an MTSU alumnus, will serve as the guest speaker for the 9 a.m. ceremony.
Gwyn is serving his second term as director; he was appointed to his first six-year term in 2004 and is the first African American to serve in this capacity.
Gwyn has completed some of the most prestigious law-enforcement and leadership- training programs in the industry, including the 33rd session of the FBI’s National Executive Institute, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the FBI’s Leadership in Counterterrorism Program.
A 1985 graduate of MTSU, he began as a patrolman with the McMinnville Police Department then joined the TBI as a special agent in 1988. Since becoming director, Gwyn has expanded the TBI into a far-reaching law-enforcement agency overseeing the creation of the Technical Services Unit and Cyber Crimes Unit. Under his watch, the state’s Fusion Center was constructed within TBI headquarters, housing liaisons from the state Department of Homeland Security along with programs such as the AMBER Alert and statewide Sex Offender Registry.
In 2006, Middle Tennessee State University recognized Gwyn as the Distinguished African-American Alumnus of the Year, and in 2010, he was the recipient of the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award for professional achievement.



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• Dr. Hershel “Pat” Wall, special assistant to the president of the University of Tennessee since October 2009, will speak to the graduates at the 1 p.m. ceremony. While he was chancellor of the UT Health Science Center, Wall, also an MTSU alumnus (BS ‘57), was responsible for planning and executing the strategic direction of the statewide academic health care system with campuses in Chattanooga, Knoxville and Memphis. He now devotes his efforts full-time to the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs.
Prior to his appointment as interim chancellor in April 2007, Wall had been the interim dean of the UT College of Medicine in Memphis since November 2005. The UT Board of Trustees in March 2008 appointed him permanent chancellor and vice president for health affairs. In the College of Medicine, he served as associate dean for admissions and student affairs since 1982. Wall also had served as vice provost for students on the Health Science Center campus.
Before entering the UT College of Medicine in 1957, Wall received his Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University. Following his graduation in 1960 from the College of Medicine, Wall completed his residency in pediatrics at the Memphis campus, serving as chief resident. He returned to the UT College of Medicine as a faculty member in 1965 after military duty in France. He was promoted to professor of pediatrics in 1979 and has served as division chief of general pediatrics. Wall is now in his 46th year as an active teacher in the Department of Pediatrics.
Wall retired from the military as a colonel in 1995 after 35 years of service, including the command of the 330th General Hospital, a 1,000-bed hospital, and a stint in Germany as a member of the 300th MASH unit in the Tennessee National Guard for Desert Storm.
During his 51-plus year career as a physician, Wall has been recognized for his contributions to medical education, his clinical skills and many contributions to the community. In September 2008, UT President John D. Petersen led the inaugural dinner of the Hershel P. Wall, MD, Legacy Society at UTHSC. The society was established to honor distinguished alumni and special friends who have made a commitment to the UT Health Science Center through planned gifting. The organization was named for Wall in light of his rich history of contributions and service to the UTHSC community. In 2010, the Tennessee Medical Association named Dr. Wall Outstanding Physician of The Year.
Graduation committee members emphasized that students who participate in commencement will be required to stay for their entire scheduled ceremony. The ceremonies should last about two hours each, so graduation candidates planning celebration activities should be aware of this time commitment.
For more information about commencement, please visit the Records Office website at www.mtsu.edu/~records/grad.htm. Questions about graduation may be directed to the Records Office at 615-898-2600.

MTSU SPRING 2011 COMMENCEMENT AT A GLANCE

Who: Approximately 2,420 graduates* (1,974 undergraduates, 446 graduate students)
What: 2011 MTSU spring commencement
When: 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, May 7
Where: Murphy Center on the MTSU campus.
Commencement speakers:
• Mark Gwyn, Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, 9 a.m. ceremony.
• Dr. Hershel P. Wall, special assistant to the president of the University of Tennessee, 1 p.m. ceremony.

*— Approximate number as of April 21, 2011.

Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. Recently, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.