Published April 26, 2019
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards will be the keynote speaker at the University of Louisiana
Monroe’s Spring 2019 Commencement on Saturday, May 11, 2019. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"We are honored that Gov. John Bel Edwards has agreed to be our commencement speaker
for our May ceremony," said ULM President Dr. Nick J. Bruno. "We make every effort
to have a distinguished speaker at each of our commencement ceremonies to share their
individual perspectives and knowledge to our graduates as they begin their professional
careers. Gov. Edwards has been a champion for all of education."
Edwards was sworn in as the 56th governor of Louisiana on Jan. 11, 2016.
He was born the seventh of eight children to Sheriff Frank Jr. and Dora Jean Edwards,
a Charity Hospital nurse. He grew up hunting and fishing in the town of Amite in Tangipahoa
Parish.
Edwards graduated at the top of his class at Amite High School and went on to attend
the United States Military Academy at West Point. As a cadet, Edwards served as vice-chairman
of the panel that enforces the West Point Honor Code. The governor graduated from
West Point in 1988, commissioning as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He subsequently
completed Ranger School and served as an active duty Airborne Ranger for eight years.
He and First Lady Donna Edwards began dating while students at Amite High School.
They married in 1989 and have three children, Samantha Bel, Sarah Ellen, and John
Miller.
Edwards retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of captain after commanding a parachute
infantry regiment in the 82nd Airborne. After returning home, he earned a law degree
from Louisiana State University and opened a civil law practice in his hometown of
Amite.
Edwards was elected by the people of House District 72 to the Louisiana House of Representatives
in 2008 and served eight years. He was then elected as governor of Louisiana in November
2015.
