Mercer to Confer Degrees to More Than 2,200 Graduates at Four Commencements in May
Thursday, April 30th, 2026
Of the more than 2,700 students meeting the requirements for graduation, Mercer University will confer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees to more than 2,200 students participating in four commencements during May in Macon and Atlanta.
Commencement speakers include recently retired AdventHealth Chief Medical Officer J. Brent Box, M.D., FACP, SFHM, for the School of Medicine; the Honorable Erica L. Woodford, Superior Court Clerk, Macon-Bibb County, for Mercer Law School; Board of Trustees member Dr. Liza Guy Chapman in Atlanta; and Chair of the Mercer University Board of Trustees Executive Committee Raymond McLeod (Thad) Warren III and graduating senior Alisha Aryana Mitchell in Macon.
The Atlanta and Macon ceremonies are ticketed events. Livestream coverage of all ceremonies will be available at mercer.edu/commencement.
The School of Medicine will hold its ceremony on Friday, May 8, at 9 a.m., in Hawkins Arena inside the University Center on the Macon campus. Dr. J. Brent Box will deliver his address to 185 candidates for degrees from School of Medicine campuses in Macon, Savannah, Columbus and Valdosta.
Dr. Box was among the inaugural class of physicians to graduate from the Mercer University School of Medicine in 1986. He retired from AdventHealth after most recently serving as the chief medical officer.
The School of Law will hold its ceremony on Friday, May 8, at 3 p.m., in Hawkins Arena inside the University Center on the Macon campus. The commencement speaker will be the Honorable Erica L. Woodford, Superior Court Clerk, Macon-Bibb County. She will deliver her address to 142 candidates for degrees.
Woodford is a native of Macon and an adjunct professor at Mercer University Law School. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science and African American studies from Mercer University and her Juris Doctor from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.
The University will hold a ceremony for Atlanta campus graduates on Saturday, May 9, at 1 p.m., at Gas South Arena in Duluth. Dr. Liza Guy Chapman will bring greetings from the trustees to 1,124 candidates for degrees from the College of Pharmacy, School of Business, College of Education, School of Theology, College of Nursing, College of Professional Advancement and College of Health Professions.
Dr. Chapman graduated with her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Mercer University College of Pharmacy in 2002. She is currently serving as chief professional officer for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board.
The University will hold a ceremony for Macon campus graduates at Five Star Stadium on Monday, May 11, at 8 a.m. Chair of the Mercer University Board of Trustees Executive Committee Raymond McLeod (Thad) Warren III, will bring greetings from the trustees to 815 candidates for degrees from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Engineering, College of Education, College of Professional Advancement, School of Music and College of Health Professions.
A 1986 graduate of Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Warren is also a former chair of the Board. He is currently serving his fourth five-year term as a trustee. He is chair and CEO of Warren Environment Inc. in Atlanta, North America’s largest supplier of industrial stack and duct systems.
Student Commencement Speaker Alisha Aryana Mitchell is graduating from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with majors in political science and journalism and a minor in media studies. She is a Tift Scholar, Jesse Mercer Scholar, Mercer Honors student and Student Government Association president. Mitchell will attend the University of Georgia on a full scholarship, where she will pursue a master’s degree in public policy with a focus on policy analysis, community development and media influence.
