Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb will present the 2019 winter commencement address, IU announced Thursday in a press release. The commencement ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. Dec. 21 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Holcomb was elected the 51st governor of Indiana in 2016 and serves as the policy chairman of the Republican Governors Association. He is a graduate of Hanover College in southern Indiana, according to the release.
Holcomb was awarded IU's inaugural Bicentennial Medal for his professional achievements and support of the university.
"A lifelong Hoosier, Governor Holcomb recognizes the power of a high-quality education to transform lives and develop a public-spirited citizenry,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in the release.
The Bicentennial Year ceremony will also award two alumni – Dan Coats and Kumble Subbaswamy – with honorary degrees. Coats served as the former director of national intelligence and was a former U.S. senator. Subbaswamy is the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, according to the release.
Coats is a graduate of the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Subbaswamy earned a doctorate in physics from IU and received the College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award, according to the release.
