Haslam College of Business - Nearly 850 Business Students Celebrate During Spring 2019 Commencement

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business graduation ceremony included approximately 840 students today, May 10. Preliminary numbers indicate that 507 students from the Class of 2019 logged 19,135 hours of civic service and 28 percent of the class studied abroad. The graduates have accepted opportunities in 21 states and Canada, with an average reported salary of $56,648.

Nicholas Lauerman, who studied Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management, was honored by the Department of Business Analytics as its top graduate. He will continue his studies at Haslam in the tri-continental Master of Science in Global Supply Chain, studying in Knoxville, Shanghai, China and Hamburg, Germany.

“It has been a great experience with the Class of 2019,” Lauerman says. “We have such a talented class, and I know I’ll be friends with them years down the road, even if I don’t see them for a while. I’m excited about starting my master’s degree at Haslam. It’ll definitely give me an advantage when I start working.”

Lauerman adds that the hardest class he took as a Haslam undergraduate was data mining with Adam Petrie, a lecturer in statistics.

“They call it ‘the grind,’” Lauerman says. “Anyone who has taken it knows what I’m talking about. I feel proud of my accomplishments and ready for the next step.”

The college’s commencement address was delivered by John Compton (HCB, ’83). Compton, former president of PepsiCo and currently a partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in New York, advises graduates that having a Volunteer spirit is a true competitive advantage in the workplace and an asset in life.

“Your foundation as a Volunteer will enrich your life in so many ways,” Compton says. “The Tennessee Volunteer becomes the kids’ soccer coach, leads the Sunday school lesson, comes back to their university to recruit new talent, and becomes the next CEO.

“Here’s the point: When you volunteer, your career grows at a faster pace,” Compton adds. “You will find greater purpose in your work beyond just producing results. And you will develop more meaningful relationships with people.”

The distribution of majors among Haslam’s Class of 2019 is:

• Accounting: 12 percent
• Business Analytics: 8 percent
• Economics: 2 percent
• Finance: 18 percent
• Human Resource Management: 2 percent
• Management: 8 percent
• Marketing: 17 percent
• Public Administration: 1 percent
• Supply Chain Management: 31 percent