Today@Sam Article
Spring 2025 Commencement Speakers Announced
April 15, 2025
SHSU Media Contact: Mikah Boyd
Sam Houston State University’s Spring 2025 Commencement ceremonies will take place from Thursday, May 8, through Saturday, May 10, at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. Degree candidates attending the ceremonies on Thursday will be addressed by Dr. Robert Cain and Andy Bennett. On Friday, graduates will be addressed by Nancy Rodriguez and LaTonya Goffney. Saturday's graduates will hear from Brian Michalsky and John Dawson.
Dr. Robert Cain, D.O. FACOI, MAODME will be addressing students graduating from the College of Osteopathic Medicine on May 8 at 9:30 a.m. As the president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), he represents osteopathic medical education in a variety of settings.
On top of serving as president of AACOM, Cain is also serving a two-year term as president of the Federation of Associations of Schools of Health Professions, which aims to advance health professions education through advocacy and collaboration.
He is a 1988 graduate of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) and completed the traditional rotating internship program at the Firelands Community Hospital in 1989. Cain also completed the internal medicine training program at Brentwood Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1992, the Grandview Hospital Pulmonary Medicine Fellowship program in 1994 and Midwestern University’s Costin Institute for Academic Leadership in 2009. He is certified in both internal medicine and pulmonary medicine by the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine.
After a stint in private practice, he turned his attention toward making the medical field a better place to work. Over the past two decades, Cain has served in a variety of roles for numerous medical committees, task forces and boards spanning the local, state and national levels.
Before assuming presidency of AACOM, Cain was the associate dean for clinical education at OU-HCOM, where he oversaw business development and relationship management for clinical experiences associated with undergraduate and graduate medical education (GME). As part of his GME-related duties, he served as the chief academic officer for the Ohio Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE). His other past roles include director of medical education and director of the internal medicine residency program at Grandview Hospital.
At 4 p.m. on May 8, degree candidates from the College of Science and Engineering Technology will hear from dedicated Texan and Bearkat Andy Bennett. He serves as the chief technology officer and chief information security officer of Apollo Information Systems, where he is building out a world-class security services organization after spending 14 years in public service. On top of his duties at Apollo Information Systems, Bennett is an instructor for the University of Texas at Austin’s Master of Science in Information Security and Privacy program.
Bennett started his career in technology and successfully managed his first incident as a student worker at IT@Sam before earning his bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State in 2006. He returned to SHSU two years later to earn his master’s in information assurance and security before joining the faculty in 2009.
During his time as a Bearkat faculty member, Bennett became the director of the Center of Excellence in Digital Forensics (now known as the Cyber Forensics Intelligence Center). Since leaving, Bennett has served as the chair of the Industry Advisory Board for the Department of Computer Science.
Between his past at SHSU and his present at Apollo Information Systems, Bennett held positions across multiple functions and sectors ranging from banking to law enforcement, oil and gas, Fortune®500 consulting, applied research, higher education and more, including a stint as the deputy chief information security officer for the State of Texas.
Through it all, the thing that has followed him during his career is incident response. He is most well known for being the incident commander for the largest coordinated attack against local government in U.S. history.
Nancy Rodriguez will address a coliseum of graduates from SHSU’s College of Criminal Justice (SHSU CJ) at 9:30 a.m. on May 9. Former director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and decorated professor in law and criminology for the University of California, Irvine, Rodriguez stands as a prime representation of Bearkat excellence.
The 1992 SHSU graduate has gone on to earn her doctorate in political science from Washington State University, log over 20 years of experience in the classroom and earn a presidential appointment from former President Barack Obama.
Rodriguez served as NIJ Director from 2015-17. Several SHSU CJ faculty and staff members have had their research in corrections and forensic science supported by the institute.
She has served as a professor and associate dean in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University as well as the Department of Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine’s School of Ecology. Throughout her career, she has garnered multiple awards for her research, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Division on People of Color and Crime and the W.E.B. DuBois Award from the Western Society of Criminology. She has also received the highest level of honor in the criminology field, the recognition of Fellow by the American Society of Criminology. Rodriguez has been recognized for her achievements by SHSU as well, having been named SHSU CJ’s Outstanding Alumna in 2009 as well as Distinguished Alumna by the Alumni Association in 2024.
Rodriguez has seen her work appear in numerous books and peer-reviewed journals. Her research has led to collaborations with several law enforcement officials and judicial and corrections agencies. She has also served on two National Academy of Sciences panels.
LaTonya Goffney will be addressing graduates of the College of Education and the College of Health and Human Sciences on May 9 at 2:30 p.m. Goffney has served as superintendent of schools for Aldine Independent School District (Aldine ISD) since 2018 and has dedicated herself to the district's over 60,000 students and nearly 9,000 employees.
A Coldspring, Texas native, Goffney did not have to travel far for an exceptional education. She attended SHSU for her Bachelor of History, Master of Educational Administration and Doctor of Educational Leadership degrees. She began her career teaching at Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD (COCISD) in 1999 before rising to the role of superintendent in 2008, which she held until 2013. Following her stint at COCISD, Goffney was named superintendent of Lufkin ISD and was the first African American to serve as superintendent for each district.
Goffney was recognized for her efforts in 2018 when she was named Texas Superintendent of the Year by the AASA, The School Superintendents Association and was nominated for the association’s National Superintendent of the Year Award. Most recently, Goffney was voted as the 2025-26 president-elect of the AASA and is already serving as president of the National Association of State School Boards of Education.
In 2023, Goffney became the first Black woman to serve as president of the Texas Association of School Administrators. Her contributions to education in the area led the Houston Chronicle to include her among the 37 most fascinating, controversial and notorious Houstonians of 2024.
At 9:30 a.m. on May 10, Bryan Michalsky will address degree candidates from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and graduates from the College of Business Administration’s general business, entrepreneurship and Master of Business Administration programs. He is the president and co-CEO of Cotton Holdings, where Michalsky focuses on the day-to-day operational optimization of the Cotton Companies.
Michalsky graduated from SHSU in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus on accounting and is a certified public accountant. Prior to joining Cotton in 2005, Michalsky was the chief financial officer for a utility construction company.
In his almost 20 years with Cotton, Michalsky has been a direct catalyst for the company’s expansion from a local restoration firm to an international holdings company with subsidiaries that provide property restoration, construction, roofing, consulting, workforce staffing, temporary workforce housing and culinary services to public and private entities worldwide.
Prior to his current title, Michalsky was Cotton’s chief financial officer until being promoted in September 2024.
He is also a committed supporter of the Cotton Foundation, Cotton Holdings’ nonprofit organization that seeks to restore hope to the communities devastated by natural disasters. He is routinely onsite in these impacted communities, delivering food, water and other essential supplies. He has even taken community restoration a step further, creating Second Mountain Ministries, an organization working with nonprofits to provide programs and resources to support those who are vulnerable in the U.S. and Central America.
Graduates of the College of Arts & Media and all College of Business majors aside from general business, entrepreneurship and Master of Business Administration will hear an address by John Dawson at 2:30 p.m. on May 10. Dawson is a beloved on-air meteorologist for FOX 26 Houston, where he has worked since 1997.
Also known as “JD,” Dawson is a lifetime Houstonian and Bearkat. His interest in Gulf Coast weather began in school, when he gave weather reports for his high school’s Mustang Cable System and then later at SHSU’s Cable 7. He received his bachelor’s in radio and TV from SHSU, then earned his meteorology certification from Mississippi State University before beginning his professional career.
Dawson was hired as the fill-in weather anchor at FOX 26 in 2000 and then became the full-time weekend meteorologist in 2005. In addition to forecasting for newscasts and for the new streamed show, “Forecasting with Friends,” he creates content for FOX’s streaming platforms and for his social media and is also the face of three franchises. “Find Life Outdoors with JD” gets families unplugged and outside while “One Tank Trip” highlights family day trips around the Houston area. Dawson’s current passion is helping Houstonians prepare for emergencies: “JD’s Hurricane Gear Test” has been running for over 10 years and has reviewed over 200 preparedness products.
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