Former Suffolk Mayor E. Dana Dickens III, president and chief executive officer of the Hampton Roads Partnership, is Tidewater Community College’s keynote speaker for Friday’s graduation ceremony.

TCC will celebrate its 40th commencement at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk beginning at 7 p.m. Approximately 1,000 students are expected to receive degrees, diplomas or certificates.

Dickens, who previously worked full-time as president and owner of First Service Insurance, has served two terms as mayor of Suffolk, Virginia’s fastest growing city.

Dickens’ community involvement has included the Western Tidewater Water Authority, Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, the High Growth Commission, and the executive committee of the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance. He was vice chairman of the Mayors and Chairs Caucus of Hampton Roads.

While serving on Suffolk City Council, Dickens gave a new voice to regionalism, consistently promoting the economic development assets of the city and its Hampton Roads counterparts throughout the state.

TCC’s commencement will also feature student speaker Melissa Baumann, whose writing appeared in this spring’s Chicken Soup for the Military Wife’s Soul.

TCC is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in Virginia, enrolling more than 35,000 students annually.

The 37th largest in the nation’s 1,600 community-college network, TCC, with campuses through South Hampton Roads, ranks among the 50 fastest-growing large community colleges.

luefras.robinson@suffolknewsherald.com