More than 1,200 graduates walked across the stage at Tennessee Tech University's Hooper Eblen Center this spring, bringing TTU's overall graduation total to more than 65,000 since 1915. TTU was ranked this year in U.S.News and World Report magazine's 2009 America's Best Colleges as a Top Public University in the South for its category and included among the Best Universities, including both private and public schools, in its category for the South.

The university's newest alumni came from 26 states including Tennessee, 76 Tennessee counties and 18 foreign countries.

Local graduates include: Jennifer Candace Bolix, Rachel S Boshears, Ralph Leroy Edge,
 Tiffany Mioka Farner, Stephanie Ann Lane, Tammie Vanecia Lingerfelt,
 Matthew B Moser, Courtney Lee Sloan Simpson, James C. Tyler,
 Andrew Nelson Watkins and Margaret B Yates, all of Madisonville; Shauna Joe'l Wilson of Tellico Plains; and

Joseph Franklin Allen, Christopher J. Martin, Philina Renee Moser, 
Cathy T Ridley, Matthew Aaron Smith, Tonya Michelle Wallis and Pamela Jean Young, all of Sweetwater.