JMU to recognize December 2024 graduates; Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares to deliver commencement speech

James Madison University will hold winter commencement at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, in the Atlantic Union Bank Center.   

This year’s commencement speaker is Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a 1998 JMU graduate.   

Miyares, who graduated from JMU with a bachelor of business administration and earned a law degree from William & Mary, was elected the 48th Attorney General of Virginia in November 2021.  

As attorney general, Miyares has been focused on improving public safety, strengthening economic growth, combatting the deadly impact of opioids and fentanyl, and protecting Virginians from corporate misconduct. He is the first JMU alumnus and Hispanic American to be elected to a statewide office in Virginia and the first child of an immigrant to be Attorney General.  

In 1995, Miyares was recognized with the JMU Emerging Leader Award along with the Philip Wade Hall Memorial Scholarship Fund. 

Undergraduate degrees will be awarded to 905 students, while 162 students will receive graduate degrees.    

The highest number of undergraduate students graduated with nursing, health sciences and accounting/sport & recreation management (both tied for third) degrees. Business administration, physician assistant studies and education were the top three graduate programs.   

The commencement ceremony is a ticketed event. More information regarding December 2024 commencement is available online.