MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University is preparing to celebrate its newest alumni when almost 1,600 new graduates receive their degrees Saturday, Dec. 14, during the 2024 fall commencement ceremonies.
Held in Hale/Earle Arena inside Murphy Center at 2650 Middle Tennessee Blvd., the first of two public ceremonies will be held at 9 a.m. Central when degrees will be conferred to graduate students and undergrads in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, College of Behavioral and Health Sciences and College of Education.
The afternoon ceremony begins at 2 p.m. Central when degrees will be conferred to graduate students and undergrads in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, College of Liberal Arts, College of Media and Entertainment and University College.
For those unable to attend in person, the event also will stream live at https://mtsu.edu/live and on the university’s Facebook channel, https://facebook.com/mtsublueraiders, and will be broadcast on MTSU’s “True Blue TV” station on local cable channels and at https://mtsu.edu/TrueBlueTV.
Of the 1,593 students set to graduate, 1,319 are undergraduates and 274 are graduate students, including 240 master’s candidates, 20 education-specialist candidates and 14 doctoral candidates. In addition, seven graduate students will be receiving graduate certificates, and 16 undergraduate students will be receiving undergraduate certificates, according to the university’s Registrar’s Office.
The newest Blue Raider alumni and their supporters will hear congratulatory remarks from MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee at both ceremonies followed by guest speakers.
The keynote speaker for the morning ceremony will be alumna and this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Peggy Chabrian, a longtime aviation enthusiast and educator who is the founder of Women in Aviation International and served as its president and CEO for 25 years.
Chabrian has held several top positions in aviation education: academic dean and associate vice president of Parks College, Saint Louis University; dean of academic support at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s campus in Prescott, Arizona; assistant professor and director of the Center of Excellence for Aviation/Space Education at Embry Riddle’s campus in Daytona Beach, Florida; and aviation department chair at Georgia State University in Atlanta.
Chabrian received her bachelor’s degree in aviation management and master’s in aerospace education from MTSU in 1980 and completed her Ed.D. degree from the University of Tennessee in 1985.
The afternoon speaker will be alumnus Byron Smith, managing director of the Mountain Group Partners who boasts a distinguished career across a variety of industries. He began his career in brand management and marketing for two premier companies: Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo, before eventually moving to Silicon Valley where, as a senior executive at Asurion, he led the company's headquarters relocation to Nashville.
For the past 15 years, Smith has held his position at Mountain Group Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm. He currently serves on the boards of Silicon Ranch, AngelEye, ReVida Recovery, AirVet, Verility, and In The Bowl Animal Health.
Smith is a 1984 graduate of MTSU, where he double majored in economics and political science. He earned his M.B.A. from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago with an emphasis in economics and strategic planning. At MTSU, he was honored as MTSU’s Outstanding Student in Economics and as a Most Outstanding Senior, and he was active in the MTSU Honors program.
Driving directions, along with complete graduation details for students and guests, are available anytime at https://mtsu.edu/graduation.
With the fall 2024 commencement ceremony, MTSU will have awarded approximately 187,700 degrees to its students, including associate, bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialist and doctoral degrees, since its 1911 founding.
