Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as graduands. The date of graduation is often called graduation day. The graduation itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation. At the University of Cambridge, the occasion on which most graduands receive their BA degree is known as general admission. After degree completion, graduates can be referred to by their graduating year. In the United States and Canada, it is also used to refer to the advancement from a primary or secondary school level.

When ceremonies are associated, they usually include a procession of the academic staff and candidates. Beginning at the secondary school level in the United States, the candidates will almost always wear academic dress, and increasingly faculty will do the same. At the college and university level, the faculty will usually wear academic dress at the formal ceremonies, as will the trustees and degree candidates. "Graduation" at the college and university level occurs when the presiding officer confers degrees upon candidates, either individually or en masse, even if graduates physically receive their diploma later at a smaller college or departmental ceremony.

Tony Sweet (born 1949) is an American photographer, known for his widely published nature photography. He is also a jazz musician, workshop instructor, and author.

Tony Sweet worked as a professional jazz drummer for 20 years, playing with such jazz greats as Sonny Stitt, Joe Henderson, Tal Farlow, Cal Collins, Johnny Coles, et al. He started working in photography during that period photographing inside jazz clubs. Tony later changed careers and focused on nature photography. He is now best known for his fine art nature and floral images. He uses digital technology to produce fine art ink-jet (giclee) prints. His photographs are published worldwide and represented in the Getty Picture Agency. He has 2 images on Apple Macintosh computers desktop patterns. Tony conducts photography workshops throughout the continental United States and Canada. Tony maintains an active speaking schedule on the subjects of nature and flower photography and marketing, lecturing at professional photography organizations, universities, seminars, and workshops in the U.S. and Canada. He is a member of the Baltimore chapter of ASMP, and is a member nikSoftware’s Team Nik.

Mark D. Wallace is an American businessman, former diplomat and lawyer who has served in a variety of government, political and private sector posts. He served in several positions during the administration of President George W. Bush, including as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Representative for UN Management and Reform.

He is currently the CEO of Tigris Financial and CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI).

Prior to government service, Wallace was a practicing commercial litigation attorney in Miami, Florida. He began his political career under Florida Governor Jeb Bush and was active in his election campaigns in 1994, 1998 and 2002.

In 2000 Wallace played a key role working for then Governor George W. Bush’s legal team in the decisive Florida recount in 2000 where he served as counsel to the campaign in Florida and was a spokesman for the legal team in various national media outlets. Wallace was portrayed in the HBO movie Recount for his role in the disputed presidential contest.