KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Gov. Don Sundquist will speak at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville’s spring commencement May 15.
Commencement is set for 9 a.m. in Thompson-Boling Assembly Center and Arena.
Sundquist, son of a welder and Tennessee’s 47th governor, was the first in his family to finish high school and college. He is a graduate of Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill.
After college, Sundquist served two years in the U.S. Navy. He then joined Jostens, where he rose to plant manager at the class ring company’s Shelbyville, Tenn., facility.
Ten years later, he went into his own business as president and partner of Graphic Sales of America, a Memphis printing and advertising firm.
Sundquist served 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives before giving up his Congressional seat to run for governor in 1994.
Sundquist and his wife, Martha, have three grown children.