The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will celebrate its 264th commencement this week, honoring the accomplishments of its graduates with two ceremonies at McKenzie Arena.
The Graduate School commencement will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13. Suzanne Forlidas, a two-time UTC alumna (’75, ’87) and member of the UC Foundation Board of Trustees, will deliver the graduation charge. Click here for the livestream link.
The undergraduate commencement ceremony for all UTC colleges is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14. Dr. Ken Grubbs, also a two-time graduate of UTC (’97, ’20) and a distinguished leader in health care, will serve as the featured speaker. Click here for the livestream link.
Together, the ceremonies will recognize approximately 730 undergraduates and 130 graduate students earning their degrees this fall. Many of the 237 undergraduate and 85 graduate students who completed their degrees in August are also expected to return to campus to join in the celebration.
Graduates being celebrated include:
- Sociology major Braden Stillwell, who—during his time at UTC—started a sociology club, was vice president of the Student Government Association and was elected homecoming king this October.
- Civil engineering major Jeremiah Taylor, a Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences graduate who quickly “found his place” on campus after transferring to UTC.
- Economics major Aria Beloate, whose “gateway” decision of signing up for SGA as a freshman opened the door to countless opportunities.
- Carter Graham, completing bachelor’s degrees in both communication and business administration: management, whose career path took a turn after learning about a sports writing course.
- Andrew Hester and Lauren Evans, members of UTC’s first Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurse Anesthesia cohort—whose three years of rigorous work in the program included participating in a mission trip to Honduras.
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Click here for more UTC Commencement 2024 stories
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Commencement ceremonies are open to the public and tickets are not required. Click here for more information and a FAQ list on fall commencement ceremonies.
- Family and guest commencement information, including parking and travel to campus, can be found here.
- Closed captioning for all commencement ceremonies can be found here.
This will be the 264th overall commencement for the University, founded in 1886 as the then-private Chattanooga University. The first UTC graduation ceremony took place on Aug. 23, 1969, at the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Chattanooga.
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2:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13—Graduate School Commencement
Suzanne Forlidas ’75, ’87, former vice president, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.
A native of Chattanooga, Suzanne Noblit Forlidas received her Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education: English and Psychology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. After working as a protective services worker for the state of Tennessee, she taught English in the Chattanooga Public Schools for over a decade. She later earned a Master of Science in English Education from UTC.
Inspired by her brother, David, she entered law school at the University of Tennessee to pursue her not-so-secret dream of being a lawyer. Determined to prove to her teenage sons that her mid-life redirection wasn’t a lark, she dived headlong into her studies and was named Top Graduate of her law school class.
The unexpected bonus of law school was meeting her husband, Charles, and they started their legal careers together at Chattanooga’s Miller and Martin. They moved to Atlanta in 1998 when Suzanne joined the legal department of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE). She was elected vice president and deputy general counsel of CCE in 2007 and, in 2013, the company’s corporate secretary. Suzanne said serving as one of the lead attorneys for the 2016 merger that created the largest-ever Coca-Cola European bottler was the highlight of her career at CCE.
Coming home to Chattanooga after retirement has provided Suzanne with a new life centered on her family, friends and community—including her alma mater. Believers in the importance of private investment in public universities, Suzanne and Charles established a scholarship endowment for UTC’s Honors College in 2014 and, this year, an endowment for experiential learning for the College of Arts and Sciences. Suzanne serves as a trustee of the UC Foundation, chair of the Governance Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. Suzanne is president of the Alpha Delta Pi House Corporation for UTC’s Beta Beta chapter and a member of First Christian Church. She and Charles share a love of golf and travel.
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9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14— Undergraduate Commencement
Dr. Ken Grubbs ’97, ’20, executive vice president, accreditation and certification operations, and chief nursing officer, The Joint Commission
Dr. Ken Grubbs is the executive vice president, accreditation and certification operations (ACO), and chief nursing officer for The Joint Commission. In this role, he has executive leadership for the accreditation and certification of more than 22,000 health care organizations and programs, all activities related to surveys, eligibility and application processes, customer account management, and federal deeming compliance requirements. He also administers accreditation and certification policy development, surveyor education and development, survey technology, and the ongoing development and refinement of the accreditation process.
Grubbs has extensive work experience in health care accreditation. Previously, he served as vice president, regulatory and accreditation services for HCA Healthcare. In that role, he supported all HCA Healthcare facilities by providing leadership for clinical regulatory compliance and continual survey readiness for foundational quality and safety. By developing clinical performance improvement, quality management and risk mitigation programs, he helped lead HCA Healthcare to benchmark clinical performance in numerous areas.
Earlier at HCA, he served as director of quality standards and as a patient safety specialist for Emergency Services. He also served at the National Patient Safety Foundation as the assistant vice president of programs—where he was responsible for leading the development of patient safety tools and resources. He also completed the American Hospital Association/National Patient Safety Foundation’s Comprehensive Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship.
Grubbs began his career in health care as an emergency department nurse in Tennessee and has held various leadership positions with a primary focus on emergency services and medical-surgical intensive care services. He served on the Quality and Safety Advisory Council of the Emergency Nurses Association and the Lantern Award Selection Committee for multiple years. He also served on numerous liaison councils for The Joint Commission.
Grubbs received a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and bachelor’s in nursing from UTC in 2020 and 1997, respectively, along with an MBA from Western Kentucky University. UTC recognized him as the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.
