LAKELAND (Dec. 7, 2012) – Florida Southern College is pleased to announce that Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam will be the distinguished speaker at its winter commencement ceremony.

The ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 15 in Branscomb Auditorium on campus.

Mr. Putnam, a native of Bartow and fifth-generation Floridian, was elected to serve as Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture in 2010. He served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives on behalf of Florida’s 12th Congressional District and served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1996 to 2000. He graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Food Resource and Economics.

The College will award 138 degrees, including 50 graduate degrees at the ceremony.