Laura Ullrich Summer 2026 Graduation

Press Release
Date: August 18, 2026
Contact: kpotter2@tctc.edu

Pendleton, SC – Dr. Laura Ullrich, director of economic research in North America at Indeed Hiring Lab, delivered the keynote address at Tri-County Technical College’s summer commencement where 377 graduates received degrees, diplomas and certificates at Littlejohn Coliseum on August 3.

Ullrich has spent most of her career studying work, first at Winthrop University as an economics professor, then at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and now at Indeed Hiring Lab. She studies who gets hired, which jobs grow, and how the economy shifts under our feet.

She has studied community and technical colleges throughout her career, and while her job is to worry about the future, she says she does not worry about TCTC graduates. She told graduates, “The problem of your lifetime is not going to be a shortage of jobs. It is going to be a shortage of people. There is going to be more work than there are workers to do it. And here is the part I most want you to hear, because it is exactly what our data shows. The place AI is going to hit hardest is not where most of you are headed. AI is coming first for the high-paid desk jobs—the office work, the screens, the white-collar corner of the economy where a lot of four-year graduates are lining up to get in. The work that is hardest to automate—the work where the labor shortage will be most severe—is the work that needs a human being in the room. Caring for a patient. Wiring a building. Running a classroom. Fixing the thing that broke. Providing security both on the ground and in the cloud.”

She went on to say, “The single most valuable trait in the job market of your lifetime is going to be the ability to adapt. And you have spent your entire time here proving that you already can. The economy that is coming does not need people who have never struggled. It needs people who know how to keep going when things get hard, who can adapt, who show up for the work that only a human can do. It needs, quite literally, people like you. That is not a prediction about strangers. That is a description of this room. You did not just earn a degree or certificate today. You proved what kind of person you are under pressure. So, carry that out the door with the same grit you carried everything else. Go be the steady one. Go be the one who adapts. Go do the work this country cannot do without you.”

Two TCTC female students celebrating summer graduation.

 

Following Ullrich’s speech, Tri-County President Galen DeHay and other College officials presented degrees, diplomas and certificates to the following graduates:

Anderson County

Bryson Acker, Aaron Alba, Ava Alexander, Alma Alvarez, Aniel Alvarez Zumaran, Nehemiah Amisial, Rhett Anderson, Mary Badovick, Ashley Bailey, Justin Baker, Daisha Bates, Noah Beebe, Austin Beers, Rachael Berger, Erin Boyter, Alex Branco, Daniel Brock, Emma Brown, Jalen Brown-Bentley, Bryson Bunn, Isabel Buntenbach, Michael Burdette, Richard Burton, Alexandro Busby, Jessica Callaham, Jeremiah Campbell, Christopher Campbell, Johan Carrillo Cortes, Courtney Carter, Landon Cawthon, Shaylee Chandler, Daniel Chimal, Kendra Christian, E'Lexis Clark, Tianna Cowan, Skylar Cox, William Coyle, Catherine Crouch, William Crowe, Preston Daw, Jacob Decker, Braden Dill, Miller Dimond, Celeena Douglas, Samuel Dukes, Zamory Edwards, Johon Emenov, David Erwin, Mason Farmer, Maxwell Ford, William Fowler, Allie Gentle, Quentin Gilstrap, Tamia Grate, Jeremy Greer, Bethany Griffith, Nolan Guest, Benjamin Gursky, Ashley Harbert, Torah Hartsfield, Ethan Hawkins, Lisa Hawley, Braylen Haywood, Kyndall Helms, Nicholas Hight, Malachi Hill, Lee Holt, Sarah Hope, Joshua Horne, Kalia Hudson, Palmer Johns, Zy'Adriya Johnson, Kameron Jones, Truman Jones, Olivia Jones, Christopher Jones, Cherish Jones, Bailee Kay, Karlee Keaton, Jackson Kelly, Henry Kent, Daniel Kinross, Charles Kirby, Kathy Kravchuk, Matthew Lamar, Ethan Lang, Seth Lang, Nathaniel Latshaw, Gabriel Lewis, Bryson Lewis, Karissa Littlejohn, Colin Locke, Nichole Lucas, Mary Maciejewski, Logan Maness, Ashley Martindale, Cynthia Martinez, Akin McAlister, Julien McCraw, Brianna McCurley, Brycen McDaniel, Steven McGahey, Kadarius McGowan, Hykeem McGrier, Lauran McKittrick, Nicolas Meola, Clarence Merriweather, Thomas Miller, Lucia Mills, Claudia Minter, Taylor Moore, Aidan Moran, Kelsey Mosteller, Elane Nabors, Mena Nashed, Kevin Nelson, Christopher Newton, Cooper Odom, Daniela Olivo-Quintero, Joseph Owens, Tiahnni Oyelowo, Constance Pearce, Clayton Pendergrass, Austin Pendleton, Skyler Pennington, Retonya Penry, Anders Peterson, Brian Phan, Owen Pickens, James Posey, Cadence Rasmussen, Stephen Ratajczak, Logan Ray, Devontae Richardson, Emily Rider, Nicholas Roberts, Jimena Rodriguez, Jordan Roper, Lorelai Rosenoff, Amaya Scott, Anthony Seigler, Carson Sentell, Kaden Simmons, Hunter Slawson, Anna Smith, Logan Smith, David Smith, Palmer Smith, Matthew Stancil, Bowen Strang, Mckenzie Strickland, Trenton Taylor, Paul Tench, Nolan Tilley, Skyler Tucker, Londyn Turner, Alea Turner, Heather VanGieson, Tyler Vaughn, Jase Watson, Kalyn Welborn, Zachary White, Quashaun White, James Whitmore, Landon Williams, Drasyn Williams, John Williams, Jasmine Williams, Brooklyn Williamson, Carmen Wolfe, Savannah Young

Oconee County

Keyarri Alexander, Sarah Badger, Allyson Balbuena, Jennifer Bearden, Stephanie Becker-Wilbanks, Brandon Bibb, Samyra Boyd, Samantha Burnett, Jordan Butts, Haley Butts, Chelsea Camden, Jessica Carson, Myles Chapman, Isabella Cobb, Richard Cox, Jaelyn Davis, Stefanos Dimas, Brittany Dishnow, Elias Ebenhack, Ashton Edmonds, Natalie Edwards, Sara Flores, Katelyn Fontaine, Adrian Gilliland, Rebeka Glenn, Leon Glover, Jocelyn Godwin, Mashonda Grant, Brianna Grimes, Lester Haley, Anika Hall, Benton Hayden, Isai Hernandez, Casey Hogan, Jonah Holcombe, Jared Howery, Blake Hurst, Frantz Jean, Jessica Johnson, John Johnson, Hayden Jones, Jeffery Lansdale, Jenny-Lynn Lawson, Bella Lynch, Christopher Marshall, Sophia Martins, Zoe McKeown, Mavrick McWhorter, Ronald Montes, Ashton Moore, Nabecca Moore, Christopher Morgan, Gracin Murphy, Colton Nelson, Brian Page, Ketty Perez, Avita Perez-Tedeschi, Paisha Phillips, Riley Phillips, Zachary Philpott, Loyal Piker, Kileigh Poole, Jaden Porter, Jason Rasley, Raegan Sanders, Addison Smith, Kristen Smith, Mackenzie Smith, Landan Stephens, Alea Tracy, April Trevino, Carolina Vallejo-Ojeda, David Vazquez, Edgar Velasco, Max Walton, Grayson Watts, Ben White, Devan White, Ethan Wilbanks, Carson Wright

Pickens County

Naiseth Antonio-Hernandez, Jessie Arrowood, Anna Autry, Marie Banta, Hensel Bautista, Weston Beacham, Sam Bennett, James Bentley, Alexander Black, Cole Brewer, Deidra Brown, Austin Burton, Bryson Burton, Alexander Butts, Jake Cerecedo Hernandez, Charley Coleman, Jacquelyn Conklin, Colby Cooper, Trevor Crowe, Arianna Curry, Jacob Delk, Jessica Donald, Cade Durham, William Durham, Ethan Elgin, Amber Fabian, Kimberly Gibson, Terry Gillespie, Zander Gravely, Debbie Grawehr, Ashton Guin, Samuel Hall, Kenleigh Harris, Beverly Holden, Isaac Howerton, Tucker Johnson, Jeremy Jones, Madison Jones, David Keasler, Stephen Kelke, Nikki King, Sophia Kruse, Tyler Lamunyon, Katie Littleton, Jacob Mason, Arayah Mattis, Luke McAtee, Bailey McClain, Kyle McGuffin, Angelina McIntyre, Gavin Medlin, Emily Moore, Keegan Moorehead, Cheyanne O'Shea, Ethan Owens, Michael Papazis, Zoe Paschal, Vrajkumar Patel, Lea Payne, Izabell Pilgrim, Marcillia Pilgrim, Hunter Poole, Lewis Powell, Carolina Raycroft, Lauren Reece, Heidi Reed, Cheyenne Reid, Michael Revis, Matthew Reynolds, Tyler Roper, Wyatt Roper, Isaiah Sanchez, Ethan Sexton, Johnnie Shelton, Hailey Shirley, Steven Shkor, Hannah Simmons, Jacob Spoden, Hunter Stephens, Cassandra Stephenson, Kyle Stevens, Taylor Stuckey, Ralph Tallman, Cheondra Thompson, Keaton Van Duinen, Alexia Vidal, Micah Warren, Jamarias Williams, Bobby Worley

Out of County

Gatlin Bickley, Shenandoah Bishop, Olivia Boyd, Tanyjae Carter, Kayla Eskew, Stephanie Garcia, Zander Gholson, Toni Glenn, Cristian Gonzalez, Ian Graham, Ashley Hallums, Alexandria Henry, Jaquetta Hudson, Bentley Jennings, Benjamin Johnston, Evan Jones, Caralynn Kerr, Benjamin Kidd, Kinzlee Lewis, Tracey McFadden, James McKee, Ebony McMorris, Johalinx Meralus, Nicholas Miller, Austin Pittman, Morgan Pursley, Riley Quandt, Jennifer Reese, Isaiah Rendelman, Gabriel Riesgo Rivera, Adriana Schwab, Brandon Smith, Havana Smith, Kryste Smith, Maleah Walker, Tia Young

TCTC graduate student holding up her diploma smiling.

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About Tri-County Technical College
Tri-County Technical College, a public two-year community and technical college serving Anderson, Oconee and Pickens Counties in South Carolina, enrolls more than 9,000 students annually and offers more than 70 major fields of study, including computer technology, business administration, mechatronics, nursing, and university transfer programs. Tri-County boasts the highest student success rate among two-year colleges in the state and ranks in the top one percent nationally for successful student transfers to four-year colleges and universities. To learn more, visit tctc.edu.