The College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources will graduate approximately 515 students as part of commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 18. This includes students who are finishing their studies in May, and those who will finish in August. CAFNR’s ceremony will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Hearnes Center.

Graduating seniors and their families and friends will hear from Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, pictured left, as the commencement speaker.

Parson was sworn in as Missouri’s 57th Governor on June 1, 2018. Gov. Parson previously served as the 47th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri (2017-18), as a state senator (2011-17), and as a state representative (2005-11). He was also the sheriff of Polk County from 1993-2005, and served six years in the U.S. Army.

Gov. Parson sponsored several landmark pieces of legislation while in the Missouri Senate, including Missouri’s Castle Doctrine and the Missouri Farming Rights Amendment. During his first year as Lieutenant Governor, his office launched the “Buy Missouri” initiative, and he was inducted into the Missouri Farmers Care Hall of Fame, received the Missouri Grocers Association’s Capitol Impact Award, and was named to the 2018 list of Ingram’s 50 Missourians You Should Know. 

He and his wife Teresa have two grown children and five grandchildren. Gov. Parson is also a small-business owner and third-generation farmer who owns and operates a cow and calf operation near Bolivar.

For Mizzou’s commencement weekend schedule, go to commencement.missouri.edu. For information specific to CAFNR’s ceremony and graduation process, go to cafnr.missouri.edu/current-students/graduation.