On Dec. 13, more than 2,100 graduates will be welcomed into the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s alumni family as they are honored during fall commencement ceremonies. The university will award approximately 1,412 undergraduate degrees and 709 graduate degrees and certificates.
Lamar Alexander, a former Tennessee governor who served as president of the UT System from 1988 to 1991, will address graduates as the keynote speaker at the 9 a.m. undergraduate commencement ceremony. He will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Educational Leadership and Policy degree from the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences for his dedication to improving education at all levels.
Graduate hooding will take place at 3 p.m. Yolanda Buendia Barrientos, who is receiving a Master of Science in supply chain management, will deliver the address. Both ceremonies will be held in Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center and will be webcast live on the commencement website.
On the same day, eight cadets from Army ROTC and three from Air Force ROTC will be commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. armed forces. The Army ROTC commissioning ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. at Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building. The Air Force ROTC commissioning ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. in Alumni Memorial Building Room 210.
Speakers
Lamar Alexander
Lamar Alexander is the only Tennessean ever popularly elected both governor and United States senator. He has also served as the US secretary of education, president of the University of Tennessee System, and a faculty member in Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He co-founded a Nashville law firm and two businesses.
In the Senate he was the driving force behind more than 90 laws, including the Great American Outdoors Act, 21st Century Cures, and the law that ended surprise medical billing. The Wall Street Journal described a law he sponsored reducing mandates on schools as “the largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter century.”
As governor, he recruited Nissan and Saturn to come to Tennessee, sponsored three road programs to attract auto suppliers, made Tennessee the first state to pay teachers more for teaching well, and started the Governor’s Schools program for high school students. He launched the Science Alliance and made the first 24 Distinguished Scientist appointments at UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
He has served as chairman of the National Governors Association, the Senate Republican Conference, and President Ronald Reagan’s Commission on Americans Outdoors.
In 1992, he and his late wife, Honey, endowed the Alexander Prize, an annual monetary award that honors a UT faculty member for superior teaching and scholarship. He has endowed a scholarship at the Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Affairs and Public Policy.
He is a classical and country pianist and the author of nine books, and he expects to publish his memoir in 2025.
Alexander is a seventh-generation East Tennessean, born in Maryville. His father was an elementary school principal and his mother was a preschool teacher. He lives in Blount County and has four children and nine grandchildren.
Yolanda Buendia Barrientos
Originally from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Yolanda Buendia Barrientos is graduating with an MS in supply chain management from the first online graduate program in the Haslam College of Business.
Her degree from UT is Buendia Barrientos’ second master’s degree, started after 19 years of industry and commercial experience across Latin America. She is currently based in San Luis Potosi and employed by Cummins Inc., which provided a scholarship to support her studies. Her work in regional and corporate roles has given her a multicultural and global perspective on supply chain management and leadership.
Beyond her work in the automotive industry, Buendia Barrientos is passionate about supporting her various communities. She has been an active member of Cummins’s Every Employee, Every Community program since 2003. The program allowed her to volunteer with several nongovernmental organizations, where she helped to implement Six Sigma and project management tools. She received an award from the program for this philanthropic work.
Unleashing the full potential of Latina women by creating an attractive and equal work environment is another of Buendia Barrientos’ ambitions. She deployed a Six Sigma project, Leading Gender Equity, which won the Global Business Award at her organization and was the basis for its Women’s Mentoring Program. More than 60 women have advanced their personal and professional development through the program since its implementation in 2020.
Buendia Barrientos is an active lay member in her Catholic community. For seven years she led spiritual retreats for young single professionals, and for more than 13 years she has been a catechist at her local parish, sharing how her faith has contributed to her inner strength and resilience.
She intends to use her new degree to accomplish transformative initiatives at work and in her personal life.
Parking and Security Information
Graduates and their guests can park free of charge in university student parking areas throughout campus but should avoid parking in staff parking areas. The G10 Garage next to the arena will have limited access. Guests are strongly encouraged to enter and exit the G10 Garage from Neyland Drive. Visit the UT Parking and Transit website for details.
The university’s clear bag policy will be enforced. Guests will be screened on entry by event security staff. Binoculars, cameras and video cameras are permissible without cases. Smoking and vaping are prohibited in and on all university property, including in private vehicles parked or in operation on university property.
For more information on which items are allowed and prohibited in the stadium as well as security policies, visit the commencement website.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Erica Estep (865-974-2225, eestep2@utk.edu)
Maggie Palmer (865-974-3993, mpalme19@utk.edu)