Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Google executive, chief of Capitol Police will be speakers at University of Richmond's 179th commencement
April 16, 2009
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, Google executive Rick Klau and state Capitol Police Col. Kimberly S. Lettner will be the guest speakers at University of Richmond's 179th commencement May 9-10 at the Robins Center.
The School of Continuing Studies and School of Law ceremonies will be held May 9 at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. Continuing Studies will award 124 associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees and 80 certificates, and the law school will award 155 J.D. degrees.
At the main commencement ceremony on May 10 at 2 p.m., 702 baccalaureate and 74 graduate degrees will be awarded.
Kaine will speak at the main ceremony. The 70th governor of the Commonwealth was a Richmond-based attorney for 17 years. He represented clients who were denied housing based on race or disability, while also teaching legal ethics at the University of Richmond School of Law for six years.
Kaine also served four terms on the Richmond City Council, including two as mayor. Under his leadership, the city built its first new public schools in a generation, taxes were cut, and the city's violent crime rate improved. He was elected lieutenant governor in 2001, then governor in 2005.
Kaine is currently chairman of the Democratic National Committee and chair of the Southern Governors' Association.
Klau, business product manager for Blogger at Google and a 1996 graduate of the School of Law, will speak at the law school ceremony. He joined Google after its acquisition of Feed-Burner, a Chicago-based Internet company. At Richmond, he founded the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology, the world's first exclusively online, student-edited law journal. He also has been a technical advisor to two U.S. presidential campaigns and serves on the board of directors of publisher Augsburg Fortress.
Lettner, a 2006 graduate of the School of Continuing Studies, will speak at that school's ceremony. Before joining the Capitol Police as chief, she served more than 21 years with the Virginia Department of State Police, most recently as a captain and director of the Professional Standards Unit. She is a member of the Capital Preparedness Work Group and an executive board member of the Crater Criminal Justice Regional Academy.
E. Claiborne Robins Jr., a Richmond businessman, philanthropist and a 1968 alumnus, will receive the University President's Medal during the main ceremony. Robins will be honored by University President Edward L. Ayers and the board of trustees for his 40 years of service as a trustee, as well as his own and his family's leadership at the university. The $50 million landmark gift from the Robins family to the university in 1969 was then the largest gift made to an American higher education institution by a living benefactor. Through the Robins Foundation, the family awarded $8 million in grants in 2008 to help construct an expanded on-campus, multi-purpose stadium and new Westhampton Center for women's programs.
Robins is president and CEO of E.C. Robins International, a wine importing company. He is a former chairman of the of the board of the Virginia Historical Society and the Richmond SPCA, a life trustee and past president of Maymont Foundation, and a past trustee of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. His support of organizations in Richmond and across Virginia has helped strengthen community resources and build and sustain cultural programs and educational opportunities.
For more information about the university's commencement, visit commencement.richmond.edu.