U.S. labor secretary to speak at UB School of Public Health and Health Professions commencement ceremony

Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez will speak at the 2014 commencement ceremony for the University at Buffalo's School of Public Health and Health Professions. The 12th annual SPHHP commencement will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 18, in the UB Center for the Arts on the North (Amherst) Campus.

A Buffalo native and graduate of Canisius High School, Perez will address more than 200 graduates of the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions.

As secretary of labor, Perez heads the U.S. Department of Labor, whose mission is "to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights."

Before being sworn in as the country's 26th labor secretary on July 23, Perez was the assistant attorney general for the Division of Civil Rights of the Department of Justice. For his complete biography, visit http://www.dol.gov/_sec/. For more information about the SPHHP, visit http://sphhp.buffalo.edu/.