Many, if not most, of UT Dallas’ newest graduates began their higher education journeys in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UT Dallas celebrated graduation this spring with each of the University’s eight schools hosting its own ceremony. Twelve ceremonies in all were held, along with a doctoral hooding ceremony presided over by the school’s respective deans. More than 5,100 students participated in all the ceremonies. A total of 2,847 bachelor’s, 2,487 master’s and 98 doctoral degrees were awarded.  

Out of a total of 1,320 degrees awarded in spring 2024 in the Jonsson School, 566 bachelor’s degrees, 310 master’s degrees and eight doctoral degrees were awarded to computer science (CS) and software engineering (SE) majors. Ujwal Sandeep Shah, master’s (MS) in computer science and Lillie McMaster, bachelor’s (BS) in software engineering, were the keynote speakers for the Jonsson School graduation ceremonies.

As part of the festivities each semester, the CS graduation luncheon honors the University’s newest CS/SE alumni and provides new graduates with the opportunity to reflect on their time at UTD and celebrate success while enjoying food and speeches from by UTD alums and tech industry members. 

This year’s luncheon was the most-attended ever, with approximately 360 people in attendance. Computer Science department head Dr. Ovidiu Daescu commended the graduating students for all their hard work: “Our goal as the Computer Science department is to prepare you not only for the workforce of today but also for the workforce of tomorrow,” he said. “You have the training and skills to adapt to whatever is coming because you can see what is coming. … Whenever a technological revolution happens, we need more technology-minded people, and that is where you will step in and show your importance. You are the future.”

He went on to advise students to continue their education and be lifelong learners because technology is evolving constantly. 

Each year, the luncheon features an inspirational speaker — and this year it was UTD CS alum and former UTD Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) student chapter president David Richey, who now works at Meta. During his speech, Richey spoke about his time at UTD, sharing his memories as well as life as an alum and subsequent career as a software engineer at Meta.

“I believe that one of the often-overlooked strengths of the UT Dallas Computer Science department and the Jonsson School is that it provides students with so many student organizations such as Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Women Who Compute (WWC), Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM) and so many more,” Richey said. “These groups allow students to not only build a community but also to help them work on their soft skills that aren’t always focused on in class, such as communication, collaboration, and working with other people. Without these organizations, I don’t think the picture of your education is complete. These groups help you connect and grow through their events.”

Following the remarks, the CS department honored the top performing CS/SE bachelor’s and master’s students with certificates of academic excellence. A select group with a GPA of 3.75 or higher for bachelor’s and 3.9 or higher for master’s, these students demonstrated exceptional dedication and hard work throughout their years at UTD. The Computing Scholars, who have consistently shown outstanding commitment and effort, were also recognized, further highlighting the excellence of the class of 2024.