UTM commencement will be May 13 with Gov. Phil Bredesen delivering the commencement address. Set for 11 a.m. in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center, a record number of graduates has prompted the need for complimentary tickets to organize seating for the event.

Dr. John Petersen, president of the University of Tennessee, will attend the ceremony to congratulate the 626 spring graduates. UTM Chancellor Nick Dunagan will preside over the exercises and confer degrees. Dr. Paul Sharma, UT National Alumni Association Alumni Distinguished Service Professor, will be the mace bearer, and the processional marshals will be Dr. Robert LeMaster, faculty senate president; Dr. John Schommer, faculty senate vice president; Al Hooten, vice chancellor for finance and administration; and Lenora Solomons, vice chancellor for university advancement.

The University Singers, under the direction of Dr. Mark Simmons, will perform special music and lead the alma mater. Immediately following commencement, a reception will be hosted in Skyhawk Fieldhouse.

Each graduating student will receive up to six free tickets to admit his or her guests. A reserve quantity of additional tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from the Office of the Registrar. Overflow seating with a video and audio feed of the ceremony will be provided in the fieldhouse for all guests without tickets.

Bredesen, the 48th governor of Tennessee, took office Jan. 18, 2003, with a promise to “focus energy on real results by leaving behind predictable and stale political debates.” In one of his first acts as governor, he opened the door to administrative budget hearings, allowing taxpayers to see for the first time the decisions that are made on how their money is spent. His first three executive orders established the toughest ethics rules in the history of Tennessee’s executive branch. He managed the state through a fiscal crisis without raising taxes or cutting funding for education. Most of all, he instilled a renewed confidence that government can work on behalf of its citizens for the betterment of the entire state.

In years two and three, Bredesen pushed measures to improve education, including raising teacher pay above the southeastern average and expanding Tennessee’s pre-kindergarten program as part of a statewide initiative. To recruit new industry and jobs, he worked with the general assembly to reform Tennessee’s workers’ compensation system and invest in retraining programs to help laid-off employees develop new skills in the rapidly changing economy. He launched Tennessee’s war on methamphetamine abuse by focusing on treatment, prevention and public awareness as well as enhanced criminal penalties and resources for law enforcement.

Bredesen took control of TennCare — the state’s financially troubled Medicaid-expansion program — by preserving full enrollment for children and pursuing innovative initiatives, such as making better use of health information technology.

Before entering public service, Bredesen was a successful health care entrepreneur. Between research trips to the public library, he drafted a business plan at the kitchen table of his apartment that led to the creation in 1980 of HealthAmerica Corp., a Nashville-based health care management company that eventually grew to more than 6,000 employees and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. He sold the company in 1986.

Bredesen and his wife, First Lady Andrea Conte, are active members of the community, locally and statewide.

Tickets for commencement will be distributed to graduates May 3 at the university’s Grand Finale Walk, an event at which soon-to-be graduates are honored with a picnic and walk through the quadrangle. A second opportunity to receive tickets comes later that day when students attend commencement practice. Students who miss these opportunities can secure tickets at the Office of Academic Records. Area residents may pick up two tickets each after May 3 at the Office of Academic Records while supplies last. Any excess tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at distribution points outside of the Elam Center on commencement day.

“Ticket admission to commencement is a common practice across the country,’ said Dunagan. “Growing university enrollment contributed to the need for a change. Under this new system, we will do our best to accommodate as many as possible for this important event.”