MEDIA ADVISORY

Four years after the state’s newest public university opened its doors, Florida Polytechnic University will graduate its inaugural class with more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students receiving degrees.

WHAT: Florida Poly Spring 2018 Commencement

WHEN: Friday, May 4, 2018. Ceremony begins at 3:30 p.m. and Student arrivals begin at 1:30 p.m., and doors open to ticket holders at 2:30 p.m.

WHERE: RP Funding Center (Youkey Theater), located at 701 W Lime St., Lakeland. Parking available in the Blue Parking Lot.

WHO: The commencement speaker will be Dr. Jeffrey Wadsworth, who will be awarded an honorary degree by President Dr. Randy K. Avent.

Wadsworth recently retired as president and CEO of Battelle Memorial Institute, the world’s largest nonprofit research and development organization, executing about $6 billion of work annually and employing about 22,500 people. He has previously overseen the management or co-management of seven national laboratories of the U.S. Departments of Energy and Homeland Security.

The ceremony will also feature an address by the State University System Chancellor Marshall Criser and student speaker Chris Dowdy, a mechanical engineering major from Lakeland.

EDITORS/PRODUCERS: To ensure access and space, please RSVP by 10 a.m. Thursday, May 3, to Lydia Guzmán, assistant director of communications, at [email protected] or 863.874.8557.