May 05, 2025
SIU Simmons Law School commencement ceremony is May 9
CARBONDALE, Ill. — John Simmons, an Alton attorney, SIU Board of Trustees member and donor, will deliver the keynote address during commencement ceremonies for Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School on Friday, May 9.
The ceremony at 1 p.m. in Shryock Auditorium will honor 71 graduates in the Class of 2025. There is no ticketing for guests, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
SIU Carbondale Chancellor Austin A. Lane will confer degrees, with J. Phil Gilbert, U.S. senior district judge and SIU Board of Trustees chair, also in attendance.
“I had the privilege of watching the Class of 2025 grow from nervous first-year students into confident, compassionate advocates for justice,” said Angela Upchurch, law school acting dean. “What stands out to me most about this class is their heart — their commitment to fairness, their support for each other and their passion for their communities, spanning from Lagos, Nigeria, to Honolulu, Hawaii, and Benton, Illinois, to Jackson, Missouri. They have built support networks for each other, even joining together for a Thanksgiving feast at the law school every year. Everyone at Simmons Law School shares pride in this class and what they have accomplished. We can’t wait to see what they will accomplish in the legal profession!”
The Class of 2025 selected Amber M. Alexander, a graduate of Marion High School who spent eight years working in child services, including as a caseworker in Colorado and later as a high-risk investigator in Seattle to be the class speaker.
A 2014 graduate in psychology from the University of Illinois Chicago, Alexander’s experiences with child services fueled her desire to pursue a legal career and become a stronger advocate for children and families in crisis. The honors law student has as worked as a teaching assistant, research assistant, Taylor Mattis Fellow, president of Parents Attending Law School (PALS), a registered student organization, and managing editor of the SIU Law Journal. Alexander also balanced the demands of her studies while also growing her family, welcoming a son and daughter while in law school.
Peter Alexander, a professor of law and former law school dean who is retiring after a total of 13 years at SIU, will be the faculty speaker. Alexander served as dean from 2003 to 2009 and a professor of law from 2009 to 2012. He returned to SIU as a visiting professor in 2021 before becoming a professor in 2023.
The ceremony marks the 49th anniversary of the law school’s first graduating class of 1976, three years after the law school was founded.
Simmons to deliver keynote address
In 2024, John and Jayne Simmons donated $10 million to provide more access, services and educational opportunities to law school students. The gift is the largest SIU Carbondale has ever received.
John Simmons, a native and resident of Alton, founded Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation’s largest plaintiff’s law firms, in 1999. The firm, which has long been involved with the law school in providing internships and employing its graduates, has dedicated the past 25 years to representing workers and families impacted by mesothelioma, a fatal and preventable asbestos-related cancer. The firm has expanded to new practice areas and now employs more than 250 people, including more than 80 attorneys, in offices across the country. Simmons and the firm made a joint $10.2 million donation to build the Simmons Cancer Institute at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.
A graduate of SIU Edwardsville, Simmons earned his law degree from Southern Methodist University and previously served in the U.S. Army as a combat engineer. He has served two stints on the SIU Board of Trustees, beginning in 2004 for more than nine years before being reappointed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2019.