Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Gov. Paul LePage are among the most well-known names of those who will share advice and wisdom at area college commencements next month.

Blair will deliver the address at Colby College’s 191st commencement and Maine’s governor is scheduled to speak at Thomas College’s 118th ceremony.

Graduations at Thomas and Unity colleges and the universities of Maine at Farmington and Augusta are scheduled for May 12.

Kennebec Valley Community College’s commencement will be May 19 and Colby’s ceremony is May 20.

University of Maine

University of Maine at Augusta’s graduation, the first local college commencement, is one of several open to the public.

Sharon Rose, co-anchor of WCSH’s Morning Report, will be the keynote speaker at the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. at the Augusta Civic Center. Rose joined WCSH in 1989 as a producer and reporter and, according to the TV station’s website, became an anchor at WLBZ in 1993, returning to WCSH in 1994 as a noontime anchor and reporter. She earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Ithaca College in New York.

The public is also invited to the University of Maine at Farmington’s 159th commencement, provided it is outside, said April Mulherin, associate director of media relations. If the weather is inclement, the 10:30 a.m. ceremony will be inside the Fitness & Recreation Center; those with tickets will be admitted.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on MBTV, community access channel 11, according to Mulherin.

As of Sunday afternoon, UMF officials had not released the name of the commencement speaker.

Thomas College

LePage will speak at Thomas College’s commencement at 1 p.m. in the Harold Alfond Athletic Center at Thomas College on West River Road in Waterville. The Republican governor will be presented with a doctor of business administration degree at the ceremony, which is open to the public.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, said Jennifer Buker, director of public relations at Thomas.

LePage, the former mayor of Waterville and general manager for Marden’s department stores, graduated from Husson College and earned an MBA from the University of Maine. LePage was one of 18 children in his family; he left home at age 11 to escape his father’s abuse.

A total of 192 undergraduate and graduate degrees will be conferred during the ceremony, said Buker.

Unity College

Unity College will graduate its largest class in its history — 146 associate and bachelor’s degrees will be presented — at exercises at 2 p.m. in Tozier Gymnasium on Quaker Hill Road.

Award-winning journalist and author Cynthia Barnett will speak at the self-described environmental school’s 43rd graduation.

Barnett, who often writes about freshwater issues, will be awarded an honorary doctorate of sustainability science. Her latest book, “Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis,” calls for a water ethic for America, a moral plea to use less water and take pressure off ecosystems and economies.

The Florida resident earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in American history with a specialization in environmental history, both from the University of Florida.

Members of Unity’s class of 2012 chose “Connecting with the Environment” as the theme of commencement, said Associate Director of Communications Mark Tardif.

Tickets are required for graduation; the ceremony will be shown via live feed inside a tent next to the gymnasium.

KVCC

William L. Alfond, a limited partner in the Boston Red Sox, will be the keynote speaker at commencement Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield. The community college’s 42nd commencement will be held at 10 a.m. at the Augusta Civic Center.

Alfond, who worked for 31 years as an executive at Dexter Shoe Company where he was president of the bowling shoe division, now directs Dexter Enterprises, Inc.

In 1986, he and his wife Joan formed the William and Joan Alfond Foundation to assist educational, health care and other charitable institutions. He serves on boards of the USA Biathlon Committee, Educare Central Maine and his alma maters, The Governor’s Academy and Colby College.

The longtime supporter of Kennebec Valley Community College is a son of the late Harold Alfond, the founder of Dexter Shoe Company and a prominent Maine philanthropist.

Approximately 466 members of the class of 2012 will be awarded degrees at commencement, said Jonathan Humphrey, marketing specialist at the Fairfield college. The ceremony is open to the public.

Colby College

Colby’s commencement is also open to the public, provided weather cooperates and exercises are held on the lawn in front of Miller Library on Mayflower Hill.

If it rains, graduation will be in the Harold Alfond Athletic Center, where seating capacity is limited. Non-ticketed seating will be available in the adjacent field house, where the ceremony will be telecast.

Blair, the former prime minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1997 to 2007, will deliver the commencement address at exercises that being at 10 a.m.

Blair was also leader of Britain’s Labour Party from 1994 to 2007 and was a member of Parliament from 1983 to 2007.

He currently represents the United States of America, United Nations, Russia and the European Union, working with Palestinians to prepare for statehood as part of the international community’s effort to secure peace, according to his website biography.

He also started a foundation to promote understanding between religions and to make the case for faith as a force for good in the modern world, according to the same biography.

Blair graduated from St. John’s College, Oxford and Inns of Court School of Law.

“Colby is honored that Tony Blair will address the class of 2012, their families, and the faculty and staff of the College,” Colby President William D. Adams said. “The issues to which he has dedicated his life are on the forefront of our students’ minds, especially as they enter their own professional lives. I know that his address, and his presence on our campus, will be a potent reminder for the graduates of the impact one dedicated person can have on the world.”

Graduation morning, Adams will hand out bachelor of arts degrees to about 470 members of Colby’s class of 2012.

Beth Staples — 861-9252

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