May 2014 Commencement

May 6, 2014 - The University of Memphis held its spring Commencement on Saturday, May 10, awarding a total of 2,512 degrees, including 57 doctorates, in two ceremonies at FedExForum. Marvin Ellison, a U of M alumnus and executive vice president of U.S. stores for The Home Depot, was the speaker at both ceremonies. The U of M presented an honorary doctor of letters degree to community leader and philanthropist Honey H. Scheidt at the afternoon ceremony.

During the 10 a.m. Commencement, the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Communication and Fine Arts and the University College conferred degrees. At 2 p.m., graduates of the Fogelman College of Business & Economics, the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, the Herff College of Engineering, the Loewenberg School of Nursing, the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and the School of Public Health received their degrees.

Ellison is responsible for driving alignment and execution across the company's retail divisions and overseeing operations of more than 1,972 stores in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He has more than 30 years of retail experience and has served in a variety of operational roles at The Home Depot since joining the company in 2002. He previously was president of the company's Northern Division, where he was responsible for sales and operations of more than 850 stores in 21 states.

Scheidt has a long and distinguished association with the University. A generous gift from Scheidt and her husband, Rudi, in 2000 transformed a growing music department into the world-class Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. Their support helped revive the University's opera program and has been used to recruit and retain outstanding faculty and students. Honey Scheidt was instrumental in establishing the U of M's Institute for Egyptian Art and Archaeology and the Dorothy Kayser Hohenberg Chair of Excellence in Art History. She has served on numerous boards, including the Germantown Performing Arts Center, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Dixon Gallery of Art, World Literacy Foundation and Memphis in May. She has been recognized with many awards for service, including the Humanitarian Award from the National Council of Christians and Jews and the Tennessee Governor's Art Leadership Award along with her husband in 2001.