TROY – Ambassador Sichan Siv, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will be the keynote speaker at Troy University’s spring commencement on May 11.

More than 500 students from 20 U.S. states and 12 nations will receive diplomas, according to Tamara Jones, associate registrar. The University will hold two separate ceremonies to accommodate the graduates. The ceremony for students receiving undergraduate degrees will begin at 10:30 a.m., while the ceremony for graduate students will begin at 2 p.m. Both ceremonies will be held in Sartain Hall.

Tickets will be required for the 10:30 a.m. ceremony. Each graduate is given six tickets and more will be available on a first-come basis at the Sartain Hall ticket office the day of commencement. There is no charge for the tickets.

Ambassador Siv, nominated by President George W. Bush in October 2001, was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 28th ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. From 2001 until recently, he represented the United States at the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Security Council.

From 1989 to 1993, Ambassador Siv served as deputy assistant to the president for public liaison and deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia affairs in the George H.W. Bush administration.

A native of Cambodia, he escaped forced labor camps in 1976 and resettled as a refugee in Wallingford, Conn. Ambassador holds a master of international affairs degree from Columbia University and is married to the former Martha Pattillo of Pampa, Texas.

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