Back in the Day: Commencement Through the Years
On May 9, UCF’s 250,000th graduate crossed the stage at the CFE Arena.
Daniel Berreth, ’15 , a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and Kuwait, received his bachelor’s degree in marketing from the College of Business Administration and joined an alumni community one-quarter million strong. Since the first commencement ceremony in 1970, the locations, speakers and milestones have changed, but one thing remains constant — the satisfaction of earning a college degree.
Number of Graduates
1976: 10,000
1979: 15,000
1984: 25,000
1988: 50,000
1992: 100,000
2005: 150,000
2012: 200,000
2015: 250,000 (as of Spring Term)
Commencement Speakers
1970 | John Young, NASA astronaut
1972 | Capt. Mary Gore, commanding officer, Recruit Training Command Orlando
1973 | Richard Nixon, U.S. president
1977 | Lee Scherer, director, NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center
1978 | U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden
1979 | Dick Batchelor, ’71, Florida House of Representatives/first recipient of UCF Distinguished Alumni Award
1981 | U.S. Rep. Bill Nelson
1984 | Allan Gotlieb, Canadian ambassador to the U.S.
1985 | Bob Graham, governor of Florida
1987 | Reuben Askew, governor of Florida
1990 | Lt. Gen. Forrest S. McCartney, director, NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center
1992 | Glenda Hood, mayor, city of Orlando
1993 | Richard Astro, director, National Consortium for Academics and Sports
1994 | Lee Constantine, ’74, Florida House of Representatives
1996 | Michelle Akers, ’89, Olympic gold medalist soccer player
1997 | Tico Perez, ’83, partner, Baker & Hostetler
1998 | Roger Pynn, ’73, president, Curley & Pynn Public Relations
2000 | Rear Adm. Paul G. Gaffney II, U.S. Navy
2001 | Kevin Beary, ’01, Orange County Sheriff
2002 | Jeb Bush, governor of Florida
2004 | Ericka Dunlap, ’05, Miss America 2004
William W. Parsons, ’93, manager, NASA Space Shuttle Program
2005 | Harriet Elam Thomas, U.S. ambassador to Senegal
2007 | Charles H. Townes, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and laser inventor
2011 | Buddy Dyer, mayor, city of Orlando
2012 | Barbara Jenkins, ’83, superintendent, Orange County Public Schools
2013 | Bill Clinton, former U.S. president
Images Courtesy of University Archives and Special Collections