Longtime author, attorney and public advocate Gus Lee will be among the guest speakers at the 12 spring commencements of the University of California, Davis, beginning Saturday, May 19.

Lee, a 1976 graduate of the UC Davis School of Law, will speak at its ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at the ARC Pavilion.

Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, will speak at a ceremony recognizing graduates from the School of Education on June 13. Sundeep Dugar, who earned his doctorate in chemistry from UC Davis and is an internationally renowned expert in medical chemistry, will talk at the Graduate Studies commencement on June 14. And A.G. Kawamura, secretary for the California Dept. of Food and Agriculture, will speak at both ceremonies for the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences on June 16.

Lee, who grew up in a rough neighborhood in San Francisco before attending West Point and UC Davis, has gone on to write five best-selling books and is a sought-after motivational speaker. His books include "China Boy," "Honor and Duty," "Tiger's Tail," "No Physical Evidence" and "Chasing Hepburn."

The law school will award 20 Master of Laws and 196 Juris Doctor degrees at its ceremony.

The College of Letters and Science, with the largest enrollment on campus, is expecting the largest commencements ever at the ARC Pavilion on June 17.

The 12 ceremonies (two each for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Letters and Science) will be held as follows:

• School of Law -- 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, in the ARC Pavilion;
• School of Medicine -- 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 9, at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts;
• School of Education -- 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13, Mondavi Center;
• Graduate Studies -- 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, ARC Pavilion;
• College of Biological Sciences -- 10 a.m. on Friday, June 15, ARC Pavilion;
• School of Veterinary Medicine -- Noon on Friday June 15, Mondavi Center;
• College of Engineering -- 3 p.m. on Friday, June 15, ARC Pavilion;
• College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences -- 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 16, ARC Pavilion;
• Graduate School of Management -- 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 16, Mondavi Center;
• College of Letters and Science -- 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 17, ARC Pavilion.

The campus will offer live and on-demand webcasts of each of the commencements. Closer to graduation time, a link will be posted on the campus's home page at http://www.ucdavis.edu. Archived on-demand ceremonies will be available at http://commencement.ucdavis.edu/.

The campus also holds two fall graduation ceremonies in December.