Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe to deliver William Woods University undergraduate commencement address

WWU Board of Trustees Chair Romaine Seguin '82 to deliver graduate commencement address

William Woods University (WWU) is pleased to announce that Mike Kehoe, Lieutenant Governor for the State of Missouri, will deliver the 2024 undergraduate commencement address on Saturday, April 27. The graduate commencement address will be delivered by Romaine Seguin '82, Chair of the William Woods University Board of Trustees.

Commencement weekend will begin with the traditional Ivy Ceremony at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 26. The undergraduate commencement ceremony will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 27, followed by the graduate ceremony at 2 p.m., both inside Cutlip Auditorium. It is anticipated that 227 graduates, including their families and friends, will attend the events.

Hosting Lt. Governor Kehoe continues a William Woods tradition of welcoming a wide range of prominent individuals as commencement speakers, which have included actors, authors, talk show hosts, singers, executives, U.S. Senators and a future U.S. President.

"We are excited that Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe, someone who has achieved remarkable success both in the private sector and in public service, has accepted our invitation to deliver the undergraduate commencement address this year," said Dr. Jeremy Moreland, President of William Woods University. "Everything that Lt. Governor Kehoe has accomplished in life, despite the humblest of beginnings, is an admirable tale of determination and perseverance. We are thrilled to have him deliver his powerful message at William Woods."

Born and raised in North St. Louis City to a single mother of six children, Kehoe took a job at age 15 washing cars at a local auto dealership and worked his way up into sales management by his early 20's. By 1992, he purchased the Ford and Lincoln-Mercury franchises in Jefferson City, which he owned and operated as 'Mike Kehoe Ford-Lincoln' as one of the youngest Ford dealers in the nation until 2011.

Beginning his career in public service in 2005, Kehoe was appointed by Governor Matt Blunt to serve on the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, and in 2009 was elected chair. In 2010, he was elected to the Missouri Senate to represent the Sixth Senatorial District covering seven mid-Missouri counties (Cole, Gasconade, Maries, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan and Osage), winning reelection in 2014 and serving as the assistant majority floor leader and as the majority floor leader. Sworn in as Missouri's Lieutenant Governor on June 18, 2018 after being appointed to the position by Governor Mike Parson, Kehoe was elected by Missourians to a full term as Lieutenant Governor on November 3, 2020.

During the William Woods commencement, Kehoe will focus on leadership, determination and never wavering on your goals in life despite the challenges that may come your way.

Seguin, of Washington, D.C. and a 1982 graduate of William Woods, will deliver the graduate commencement address. Chair of the WWU Board of Trustees since 2019 and a member since 2011, she has built an outstanding professional career in the corporate world, most recently being named Chief Executive Officer of Good360, a global leader in product philanthropy and purposeful giving.

Prior to her current position, Seguin built a long career in leadership roles with the United States Parcel Service (UPS), serving as president of UPS Global Freight Forwarding, where she oversaw air, ocean and rail freight forwarding, as well as brokerage and supplier management for 220 countries and territories served by UPS around the world; and as president of the UPS Americas Region, where she was responsible for all UPS packages and cargo operations in Canada and more than 50 countries and territories across Latin American and the Caribbean.