Speaking on the Lawn

Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner will deliver the commencement address to an expected crowd of some 35,000 people May 19. The graduation ceremony on the Lawn begins at 10 a.m.

Best-selling author David Baldacci, a 1986 U.Va. law alumnus, will be the featured speaker at Valedictory Exercises May 18 at 11 a.m. He will sign his books at 1 p.m. at the University Bookstore.

Warner, a Northern Virginia entrepreneur and philanthropist, started his first successful company in the cellular communications industry. Later he was a founding partner of Columbia Capital Corporation, a technology venture capital fund in Alexandria. Warner, 47, graduated from Harvard Law School in 1980 and received his undergraduate degree from George Washington University.

Baldacci, who practiced law for nine years in Washington before changing careers, is the author of fast-paced suspense novels, including Absolute Power, Wish You Well and, most recently, Last Man Standing. A Virginia native, he graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University.