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U.S. Sen. Lindsey Olin Graham will deliver the December commencement address and receive an honorary doctor of laws degree during ceremonies at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 13 in the Colonial Center.
Baccalaureate, master's, and professional degree candidates will receive their diplomas at the ceremony, which will include degree recipients from all USC campuses.
Commencement ceremonies for doctoral degree candidates will be held at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 13 in the Koger Center. John McFadden, a professor in USC’s Department of Educational Psychology, will be the speaker.
The University expects to award more than 2,400 degrees during commencement exercises with Columbia campus students receiving two associate degrees, 1,043 baccalaureate degrees, 40 doctor of pharmacy degrees, 18 law degrees, 43 graduate certificates, 496 master’s degrees, 16 graduate specialist degrees, and 98 doctoral degrees.
The University also expects to award 30 associate degrees, 218 baccalaureate degrees, and four master’s degrees from USC Aiken; 17 associate degrees and 40 baccalaureate degrees from USC Beaufort; 23 associate degrees from USC Lancaster; 19 associate degrees from USC Salkehatchie; 15 associate degrees from USC Sumter; nine associate degrees from USC Union; and 22 associate degrees, 325 baccalaureate degrees, and one master’s degree from USC Upstate.
Born in Central, Graham graduated from D.W. Daniel High School, the first in his family to complete that level of education, then earned an undergraduate degree in psychology in 1977 and a law degree in 1981, both from USC.
Upon leaving active duty in the U.S. Air Force in 1989, Graham joined the S.C. Air National Guard. He then entered the private practice of law. In 1992, he was elected to one term in the S.C. House of Representatives. In 1994, he was elected to the first of four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the first Republican to represent South Carolina’s Third Congressional district since 1877.
In 2002, Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate, serving in the seat previously held by Sen. J. Strom Thurmond. Graham serves on four Senate committees, Armed Services; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Judiciary; and Veterans’ Affairs. The committees exercise jurisdiction over a broad scope of policy related to military, national security, education, labor, health, the federal judiciary, and veterans’ welfare.
Graham was a staff judge advocate at McEntire Air National Guard Base during the first Gulf War and received a commendation medal for preparing troops for deployment to the Gulf region. Having continued his service in the U.S. Air Force Reserves since 1995, Graham is the only U.S. Senator serving in the Guard or Reserves and now is a colonel assigned as a reserve judge to the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. He received the Meritorious Service Medal for Active Duty Tour in Europe after serving at Rhein Mein Air Force Base in Germany from 1984 to 1988.
Graham has received many awards, including Home Health Care Legislator of the Year in 1992. He was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States as the S.C. House of Representatives member of the Judicial Arbitration Commission. As a member of Congress, Graham also was one of the managers who presented the case of the House of Representatives during the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton.
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