Gates to Deliver Commencement Speech...at UT

By: Steve Fullhart - Email

Updated: Tue 5:27 PM, Mar 27, 2012

Gates' Page at William and Mary
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The former leaders of the Aggie campus will soon speak to the latest class of Longhorns.

It was announced Tuesday that former Texas A&M President and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will deliver the spring commencement address on May 19 in Austin. There will be about 8,000 graduates to hear Gates on the university's Main Mall, according to a UT press release.

“Robert Gates is not only a former colleague and an intellectual leader but a model of service to our nation,” said UT President Bill Powers. “I’m personally eager to hear what he has to say and excited that our new graduates and their families are going to have the benefit of his global insights.”

Just last month, Gates became the chancellor of his alma mater, William and Mary in Virginia.He's the latest in a long line of prestigious people to hold that office.

Presidents George Washington and John Tyler, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Supreme Court Justices Warren Burger and Sandra Day O'Connor, and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger all served as William and Mary chancellors before Gates.

Gates was A&M's president from 2002 to 2006. President George W. Bush named him the Secretary of Defense at that time. He served under both Bush and Barack Obama, stepping down from the post in 2011.

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