LETTER FROM THE DEAN

DEAR GRADUATE,

Congratulations! You have earned a degree from UT Austin. You have done all the reading, taken all the exams, knuckled through all the papers, and had a lifetime’s worth of challenging, exhilarating, and often difficult conversations with your fellow students and your professors.

I am always impressed with the engagement, innovation, and spirit our students show, and I am honored to stand here at the finish line alongside you.

Your liberal arts education has prepared you to think critically, to ask transformative questions, and to challenge yourself and others to engage with the world and to make it a better place. Your families, friends, teachers, and mentors have prepared you in these ways too. They have rooted for you, supported your education through money and time and love, and are now here, many of them, to cheer you on today. It is with this broad network of support, both intellectual and emotional, that you step out of the university and into the next stage of your journey.

As you continue this journey, this network will grow, and today it grows by about 150,000, as you join our College of Liberal Arts alumni out in the world. The work and passion of our alumni help shape communities throughout the nation and the world, and you are next in line to join them, get your hands dirty, and make an impact, all things you have already demonstrated you can do here on the 40 Acres.

Today we acknowledge UT Austin’s investment and confidence in you, just as you have invested in yourself and your future. We are so proud of you and all you have accomplished, and we hope you are proud, too. We can’t wait to see what comes next for you, and we hope you’ll come home to UT from time to time to tell us about it.

Wishing you all the best for what’s to come.

Ann Huff Stevens

Dean, College of Liberal Arts

David Bruton, Jr. Regents Chair in Liberal Arts

Department Of Economics

Saturday, May 6, 2023, at 9 a.m. Gregory Gymnasium

Thomas Wiseman, Professor and Chair

PROCESSIONAL

Marshals

Eugenio Miravete Professor

Haiqing Xu

Associate Professor

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Thomas Wiseman Department Chair, Professor

COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS

Traci Lovitt

UT Economics, 1991

Practice Leader, Issues & Appeals at Jones Day

PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES TO DOCTORAL CANDIDATES

Presented by Oli Coibion Graduate Studies Committee Chair, Professor

PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES TO MASTER’S CANDIDATES

Presented by Natassa Zervou

MA Academic Placement Director, Assistant Professor of Instruction

RECOGNITION OF ECONOMICS HONORS PROGRAM CANDIDATES

PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES TO BACHELOR CANDIDATES

Presented by Daniel Slesnick

Director of Undergraduate Studies, Professor

Gerald Oettinger

Associate Professor

CLOSING REMARKS

Recessional Reception

ECONOMICS COMMENCEMENT RECEPTION

Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 11 a.m.

Bernard & Rapoport Audre (BRB) Lawn

You are cordially invited to attend the reception following the ceremony. The reception will take place outside of BRB.

Traci Lovitt is a proud graduate of the University of Texas Department of Economics (’91) and is the leader of Jones Day’s nationally recognized Issues & Appeals Practice. She regularly serves as lead counsel for Supreme Court and appellate matters, heads trial level motions practice and strategy, and advises clients on litigation-risk management. She represents clients such as IBM, Chevron, and Wells Fargo. By appointment of Chief Justice Roberts, Traci served two terms on the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules, which advises the Supreme Court on possible amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence. She formerly served in the Office of the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice, and as a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Recognized as a BTI Client Service All-Star, Traci is accomplished in analyzing, briefing, and arguing complex legal questions and has argued before the United States Supreme Court, as well as numerous federal appellate and state courts. She is currently leading the motions team in lawsuits filed by institutional investors relating to residential mortgage-backed securities trusts. She heads the motions and appellate team in state and federal actions involving paraquat. In addition, Traci counsels clients to reduce litigation risk or prepare offensive and defensive strategies in advance of litigation.

Departments Of English And History

Friday, May 5, 2023, at 3 p.m., Bass Concert Hall

Martin Kevorkian, Professor and Chair, English

Music

Sienna String Quartet

Processional

Student Marshal

Douglas Bruster

Louann and Larry Temple Centennial Professorship in English Literature

Distinguished Teaching Professor Faculty Marshals

Geraldine Heng

Mildred Hajek Vacek and John Roman Vacek Chair in English, in Honor of Professor Willet T. Conklin Professor

Emilio Zamora

Clyde Rabb Littlefield Chair in Texas History Professor

Welcome And Introductions

Martin Kevorkian

Chair, Department of English Professor

Commencement Address

Nichole Prescott

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

The University of Texas System

Presentation Of Special Awards

English and History Faculty

Recognition Of Degree Candidates

Announced by

Neville Hoad

Co-Director, Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice Associate Professor

Bruce Hunt Professor

Closing Remarks Recessional

Dr. Nichole S. Prescott joined The University of Texas System in December 2016. As Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, P16 Initiatives, Dr. Prescott takes a lead role in strengthening the preK-16 pipeline and enhance college readiness for Texas students through expanded collaboration between the U. T. System, U. T. institutions and public preK12 partners as well as entities. Dr. Prescott has a Ph.D. in History from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, two M.A. degrees in History and Women’s Studies from SUNY and Miami University, and a B.A. in History from U. T. Austin.

Before joining the U. T. System, Dr. Prescott served as the Director of Student Success for E3 Alliance, a regionally focused data-driven education organization that is the Central Texas P16 council. Her work focused on eliminating the achievement and opportunity gaps in Central Texas. As director, she oversaw a portfolio of initiatives aimed at building education systems through collaborative action with education, business, and community stakeholders in order to build the strongest educational pipeline in the country as the means to drive regional economic prosperity.

Included among her accomplishments at E3, Dr. Prescott led the Central Texas Council on Educator Preparation and scaled a nationally recognized English Language Learning initiative to 52 schools in 10 districts impacting 10,000 students. As a result of her strong leadership around the transformative system work targeted toward improving outcomes for English Language Learners, E3 Alliance and its partners were awarded a White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics Bright Spots Recognition in 2015.

At the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Dr. Prescott was awarded the W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship (2000-2005) and the Hugh Cleland Award for Innovative Teaching by the Department of History (2005). Among her other awards are the Crane Award, presented by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (2003) and the prestigious Frances C. Allen Fellowship, History of the American Indian Scholar-in-Residence, at the Newberry Library in Chicago (2003).

Dr. Prescott has presented at numerous academic conferences and has been an invited speaker both domestically and internationally. She also co-organized the Indigenous Peoples Symposium at Stony Brook in 2002 to commemorate and reflect on the United Nations First International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. She has authored and co-authored articles in scholarly as well as popular publications, such as Atotankiki Myaamiaki, “What the Miami are Talking About,” (Miami tribal newspaper) and The American Indian Graduate

Dr. Prescott has been interviewed about her work by national media outlets, such as Indian Country Today and Univision, as well as local media, such as KXAN TV station, KUT (local NPR station) radio station, KLBJ radio station, and Ahora Sí (Spanish portion of the Austin American Statesman). She is a member of the National Congress of American Indians, National Indian Education Association, Native American and Indigenous Studies Association.

Dr. Prescott is a proud citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (Myaamia) and actively participates in the culture and language revitalization efforts of her people. Born in an Indian Hospital in Oklahoma, Dr. Prescott was raised on the Texas/Mexico border before she moved to Austin to pursue a college degree at The University of Texas as a first-generation college student. While Austin is her home, Dr. Prescott has maintained a strong engagement with the broader Native American community, formerly serving on the Board of Directors of the American Indians of Texas as well as former Executive Director of the Myaamia Foundation.

Locally, Dr. Prescott has served on numerous equity-focused committees. Among these are Mayor’s Task Force on Institutional Racism & Systemic Inequities, Greater Austin Community Schools Coalition Team (Mayor’s Office), Bilingual Innovation Design Team (Austin Independent School District), Newcomer Innovation Design Team Member (Austin Independent School District), Austin Opportunity Youth Collaborative, and the Austin College Access Network. She also volunteers for the Great Promise for American Indians, the Human Rights Campaign, and Out Youth.