Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland will hold Commencement exercises for the Class of 2011 on Friday, May 20 as the historically Black college celebrates its 146th anniversary. Graduates will receive degrees in more than 40 academic programs in the commencement that will be held at the university’s Bulldog Stadium. Noted clergyman Rev. Dr. Frank M. Reid, III, pastor of Baltimore’s Bethel AME Church and a University System of Maryland Regent, will deliver the commencement address to the graduates and guests in attendance.

“I am deeply honored to be the guest speaker for Bowie State’s Spring Commencement,” said Dr. Reid. “Bowie State has equipped each graduate to achieve greatness and success and now they are going into a world that will try and minimize their opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship. It is my assignment to inform and inspire the graduates, their families and the Bowie State family to create opportunities and maximize this defining moment in history.”

The long-serving pastor of one of Baltimore’s historic congregations, Dr. Reid is a graduate of Harvard and Yale universities and received his doctorate from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He is a best-selling author who is a much sought after speaker and has been deeply involved in the concerns of his Baltimore community in the more than two decades he has served as senior pastor at Bethel. In 2008, Governor Martin O’Malley appointed Reid to the University System of Maryland Board of Regents.

“Dr. Reid and I have worked together as colleagues through the University System of Maryland for the past several years,” said Bowie State University President Mickey L. Burnim, Ph.D. “He is a dynamic, inspirational person and speaker who has the ability to connect with our graduates and their families on a number of levels. We are pleased to have a member of the Board of Regents as our keynote speaker this year, and we look forward to hearing his message to the 2011 graduates.”

Bowie State University is the oldest historically Black college in the state of Maryland and one of the oldest in the nation.