Sen. Saxby Chambliss to Speak at UGA Spring Commencement

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss will be the featured speaker for the University of Georgia's undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 10, according to a UGA news release.

The spring ceremony, at Sanford Stadium, will begin at 7 p.m. and also will recognize Mary Frances Early, UGA's first African-American graduate, with an honorary doctor of laws degree.

The graduate commencement ceremony will be at 10 a.m. in Stegeman Coliseum. The featured speaker will be UGA professor Stephen Hajduk, head of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

Tickets are not required for either ceremony.

"Sen. Chambliss is a genuine public servant and a true statesman for our time," UGA President Michael Adams said in the release. "He understands the deep and abiding value of education, not just for the individual but for society as a whole, and he has been a great friend of the University of Georgia."

Chambliss was first elected to Congress in 1994 as representative of Georgia's 8th District. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and re-elected in 2008, making him Georgia's senior senator. He has announced that he will not seek to retain his seat in 2014.

10th District U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, who represents most of Athens-Clarke County, is among the candidates seeking to replace Chambliss.

Mary Frances Early, who graduated from UGA in 1962 with her master's degree in music education, was among the first African-American students to enroll at the university and the first to graduate. She received her specialist degree in music education from UGA in 1967.

For more on the speakers' backgrounds, see the UGA news release.