RADFORD – Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine will deliver the keynote address at the Spring Commencement of the 96th session of Radford University on Saturday, May 9.

The public is invited to attend the Commencement ceremony, which begins at 10:30 a.m. on Moffett Lawn. The university will confer 1,476 undergraduate degrees and 310 graduate degrees.

Kaine became Virginia’s 70th governor on Jan. 14, 2006. During his tenure, Virginia has been recognized as the most business-friendly state in America (Forbes.com 2006, 2007 and 2008; CNBC 2007), the top-performing state government in America (Governing Magazine, 2008) and the state where "a child is most likely to have a successful life" (Education Week, 2007).

In education, Kaine has helped move the focus in the classroom from competence to excellence. He put into law Virginia's first requirement for all teachers to receive regular and meaningful teacher evaluations, and expanded access to pre-kindergarten for thousands of Virginia's at-risk four-year-olds.

In 2008, he led efforts to secure a $1.6 billion bond package to expand college access for Virginians and thereby accelerate economic growth. This package included $34.3 million construction funds for a new RU College of Business and Economics building and $1.5 million in planning funds for a new College of Science and Technology building.

Kaine has dedicated the last year of his administration to a "Renew Virginia" initiative, which will focus on reducing greenhouse gases, protecting the environment, and developing green energy and "green collar" jobs in Virginia. This challenge has been embraced by Radford University and President Penelope W. Kyle, who created in 2008 a Sustainability Steering Committee that has developed a host of green policies and practices to make the university a leader in resource conservation.

RU's commencement ceremony will mark Kaine's fifth visit to campus during Kyle's tenure. Four days before his 2005 election, Kaine held a campaign rally inside the Bonnie Hurlburt Student Center, and in October 2006 installed Kyle as university president at her inauguration. In June 2008 he hosted a town hall meeting at RU and the following month toured campus and was briefed on new capital projects and academic programs.

Kaine's career of public service began when he took a year off from law school to volunteer with missionaries in Honduras. There, he served as the principal of a small Catholic school that taught teenagers basic carpentry and welding skills.

He practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, representing people who had been denied housing opportunities because of their race or disability. And he taught legal ethics for six years at the University of Richmond Law School.

Kaine entered political life in 1994 and was elected to four terms on the City Council, including two terms as Richmond's mayor. He was elected Virginia's Lieutenant Governor in 2001 and worked for four years with Gov. Mark Warner to reform the state's budget and invest new resources in education. Kaine is Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

He is married to Anne Holton, a former legal aid lawyer and juvenile court judge. Her father, Linwood Holton, was Governor of Virginia from 1970 to 1974, making Anne Holton the only Virginian who has lived in the Governor's mansion as a child and then as an adult. Holton works diligently to serve the Commonwealth with a particular focus on the needs of Virginia's children in foster care. In March, she visited RU to open the Transformation Kick-Off Forum, an event focused on the transformation of children's services. Holton was also part of a "Women's Leadership in a Global Society" symposium held as part of Kyle's inauguration that included Dr. Jehan Sadat and Maya Angelou.