U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte to speak at law school commencement in University Park

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – U.S. Senator and Penn State alumna Kelly Ayotte will deliver the 2015 commencement address for the Penn State Dickinson School of Law in University Park on May 16.

Ayotte was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, having previously served as attorney general of New Hampshire from 2004 to 2009, the first woman to hold that position. In the Senate, she serves on the Armed Services, Budget, Commerce, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committees. She is chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and the Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation Operations.

A prosecutor at heart, Ayotte served as the chief of the state's Homicide Unit and deputy attorney general before being named New Hampshire attorney general. During her time as attorney general, she successfully led efforts to secure the first capital murder convictions in New Hampshire in over 60 years -- for which the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper named her "Citizen of the Year" in 2008.

In 2003, she served as legal counsel to New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson.

Ayotte graduated from Penn State in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. After earning her juris doctor at Villanova University, Ayotte clerked for New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Sherman Horton prior to entering private practice. She lives in Nashua, N.H., with her husband Joe Daley and their two children.

The law school’s 2015 commencement ceremony at University Park will be held at 10:30 a.m. on May 16 in Eisenhower Auditorium. Tickets are not required for the 90-minute ceremony, which will be followed by a reception for family and friends of graduates at the Lewis Katz Building.

Commencement festivities begin on May 15 with a reception at 4:30 p.m. in the Lewis Katz Building for members of the class of 2015 and their guests.

For complete details on the 2015 commencement ceremony, visit pennstatelaw.psu.edu/commencement

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated July 22, 2015