Undergraduate Commencement ceremonies for the University of Massachusetts‘ Class of 2009 are scheduled to take place Saturday, May 23, and approximately 4,000 UMass students will receive bachelor’s degrees.

‘Commencement is the time to recognize the accomplishments of our students, to celebrate exemplary academic performance, and to honor outstanding alumni and friends of UMass Amherst. It is also a time to offer congratulations to students, their families and friends,’ Chancellor Robert C. Holub said in a statement.

The Undergraduate Commencement will be held at McGuirk Alumni Stadium from 12:30 p.m. until 2:30, immediately followed by a cookout hosted by Holub in tents north of the stadium.

Speaking and receiving a Distinguished Achievement Award at the ceremony will be alumnus Earl W. Stafford, a Virginia businessman and organizer of the ‘People’s Inaugural Project.’

‘Stafford is the epitome of a self-made man and has found remarkable success while never losing his innate grace, humility and enormous capacity for hard work,’ said Patrick Callahan, associate news editor at the UMass Office of News and Information.

Stafford earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at UMass in business administration while spending 20 years in the U.S. Air Force. After leaving, he started the company Universal Systems and Technology, Inc. (Unitech), which eventually grew into a 300-employee company with over $150 million in annual revenues.

After retiring in 2008, Stafford established The Stafford Foundation, a philanthropic organization. The Foundation’s first project was to organize the ‘People’s Inaugural Project,’ which helped to send 1,000 disadvantaged citizens to join them in celebrating President Barack Obama’s historic inaugural ball in Washington, D.C.

Stafford‘s volunteerism extends to UMass as well.

‘His ongoing loyalty to the campus is reflected in his service as a founding director of the board of the UMass Amherst Foundation,’ said Callahan.

Robert B. Brack, an alumnus and businessman, and Aaron D. Spencer, founder, director and chairman of UNO Chicago Grill pizzerias, will also receive Distinguished Achievement Awards.

The chancellor, UMass President Jack Wilson and UMass senior Jackie Hai will also speak.

In addition, 13 graduating seniors will be recognized for winning the University’s 21st Century Leaders Award for academic merit and accomplishment: Ivan A. Bercovich, electrical engineering and mathematics major from Jamaica Plain, Mass., August Siena Thomas, a linguistics and BDIC major from Montague, Mass., Laurene Dykiel, a chemical engineering major from Acton, Mass., Abigail Lyn Harper, a public health sciences major from Belmont, Mass., Robert House, a civil engineering major from Northboro Mass., Amy Kent, an anthropology major from Lenox, Mass., Ho (Yarty) Kim, a finance major with a minor in economics from Amherst, Mass., Lauren N. Mahoney, a comparative literature and women’s studies major from Marlborough, Mass., Lindsay E. McCluskey, an anthropology major from Upton, Mass., Christopher W. Meaden, a biochemistry and molecular biology major from Mansfield, Mass., Elizabeth F. Paice, a communications disorders major with a minor in geography from Beverly, Mass., Lauren Scheiper, a communication disorders major with a minor in psychology and linguistics from Longmeadow, Mass. and Matthew Sloan, a biology major with a minor in geography from Beverly, Mass.

The 21st Century Leaders award is sponsored by the Chancellor’s Office and the UMass Amherst Alumni Association, and has been given out for seven years.

The Graduate School Commencement, Stockbridge School Commencement, School of Nursing Convocation, Army ROTC and Air Force ROTC ceremonies will all be held on Friday, May 22.

The Graduate Commencement will take place at the Mullins Center at 2 p.m., and the Stockbridge Commencement will be at 11 a.m. in Bowker Auditorium. The School of Nursing Convocation will be in the Fine Arts Concert Hall at 5 p.m. The Army ROTC Commissioning Ceremony and Air Force ROTC Commissioning Ceremony will both be held in the Bernie Dallas Room in Goodell Hall at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.

The Commonwealth Honors College Celebration of Excellence will also be held on Saturday, May 23, at the Mullins Center.

Lisa DeBenedictis can be reached at [email protected].