Armstrong Named Commencement Speaker at A&M International Spring Exercises

Anne L. Armstrong, Member of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents and former Cabinet-rank counselor to Presidents Nixon and Ford, will provide the Commencement Address for Spring graduates of Texas A&M International University Saturday, May 16 in the Kinesiology/Convocation Building at 9 a.m.

Dr. Charles Jennett, A&M International president, said the University is honored to have Armstrong deliver the commencement address for the approximately 200 candidates for undergraduate or graduate degrees.

"Ms. Armstrong is a great friend of our University and has made frequent visits here, each time expressing her satisfaction at the tremendous growth and energy she feels typify our campus. She has a remarkable history and life of experiences and I know her message to our graduates will be an inspiring one," Dr. Jennett said.

In addition to her service to Presidents Nixon and Ford, she was United States Ambassador to Great Britain and Chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1981-1990. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1987.

Along with her service to the A&M System, she is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and a member of the Board of Directors of American Express, Boise Cascade, General-Motors, Glaxo-Wellcome and the Halliburton Company.

She is Vice Chairperson of the American Associates of the Royal Academy of Arts, member of the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution and member of the Founding Council for the Oxford Institute for American Studies. She is a Citizen Regent Emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution and a former president of the Blair House Restoration Fund.

Originally from New Orleans, she received her BA degree from Vassar and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She and her husband, Tobin, operate the Armstrong Ranch in Armstrong, Texas.

They are the parents of five grown children and they have nine grandchildren.

For additional information on Spring Commencement Exercises at Texas A&M International University, please contact the Office of Public Affairs at 326.2180.

University office hours are from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu