Deloitte principal and board member to address May SFA graduates

NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Jason W. Downing ’92, Stephen F. Austin State University alumnus as well as principal, Deloitte and chief operating officer of its clients and markets business unit, will give the commencement addresses during the university’s four graduation ceremonies Friday and Saturday, May 5-6.

Downing, a certified public accountant who earned a Bachelor of Business Administration at SFA, began his career at Deloitte in its audit subsidiary and later transferred to the consulting subsidiary. He has spent the last 31 years in a variety of management and client service roles serving some of Deloitte’s marquee clients that range from middle-market, high-growth companies to the Fortune 50. 

Downing also serves on the boards for Deloitte US, the United Way Foundation of Metro Dallas and the SFASU Foundation. He’s a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and National Association of Corporate Directors.

To attend commencement, guests must present tickets to enter Johnson Coliseum. Tickets are free and will help university officials ensure the venue is not overcrowded. Each graduation candidate will be allotted 10 tickets with an option to request more. All commencements will take place in Johnson Coliseum.
 
The public also is invited to attend, and community tickets will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis at the coliseum ticket office.
 
Candidates from the College of Liberal and Applied Arts will participate in a ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday, May 5.

Candidates from the Nelson Rusche College of Business, the School of Human Sciences and the Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts will participate in a ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 6.

Candidates from the departments of education studies, human services and educational leadership, and kinesiology and health science — all in the James I. Perkins College of Education — are slated for the 12:30 p.m. ceremony, followed by the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture and the College of Sciences and Mathematics at 4 p.m.
 
Degrees to be awarded include 1,120 bachelor’s and 323 master’s degrees. Nearly 550 students will graduate with honors, including 162 cum laude, 142 magna cum laude and 240 summa cum laude. Forty-six students will graduate with the university scholar designation.

For more info, visit sfasu.edu/commencement.