State Senator Tyler Harper will be the featured speaker at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College spring commencement ceremony on May 10.

ABAC President David Bridges said a record number of over 300 graduates are expected to participate in the ceremony, which will begin at 10 a.m. in Gressette Gymnasium. Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jerry Baker will present the degree candidates, and Niki Vanderslice, president of the ABAC Alumni Association, will induct the graduates into the Association.

Vanderslice will also assist Bridges in the presentation of the George P. Donaldson Award, which goes to the top associate degree graduate participating in the ceremony, and the ABAC Alumni Association Award, which goes to the top bachelor’s degree graduate participating in the ceremony.

A 2008 ABAC graduate, Harper was first elected as a Republican from District 7 to the Georgia Senate in 2012 and ran unopposed for his second and third terms in 2014 and 2016. He chairs the Natural Resources and the Environment Committee and is the vice chair of the Public Safety Committee. Harper, who received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Georgia, is also a member of the Appropriations Committee and the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee.

Named Legislator of the Year by the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia and the Georgia State Firefighters Association/Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs, Harper is a lifelong resident of Irwin County where is a farmer and a businessman. He serves as host for the annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Day at the Capitol, a time when members of the General Assembly show their support to state and local law enforcement.

As an appointee of Governor Nathan Deal, Harper served on the Governor’s Education Reform Commission, which evaluated Georgia’s education system and its funding. Deal also appointed Harper to serve on the Law Enforcement Task Force. Lt. Governor Casey Cagle appointed Harper to serve on the Compensation of Police and Sheriffs Task Force.

Harper received the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the ABAC Alumni Association in 2015.