Feature image: Tonya Parson 2024 (photo provided by University Relations)

The University of Tennessee at Martin’s 2026 spring commencement speaker will be Tonya Parson, a nurse practitioner from Memphis, Tennessee and a 1993 graduate from UT Martin.  

Parson is the owner and CEO of NP Cares, a health and wellness clinic located in Cordova, Tennessee. She also serves as the executive director for the Memphis branch of Passport Health, a travel immunization and health franchise.   

Parson received her bachelor’s degree in biology from UT Martin in 1993 before obtaining a second bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Baptist College of Health Sciences in Memphis in 1999. She later received a master’s degree in acute and critical care nursing from the UT Health Science Center in 2004.  

Parson has been the recipient of several honors and awards throughout her career, including being named Caregiver of the Year from the Tennessee Hospital Association and being named to the “Top 100 Nurses in Shelby County” in 2006. She was the 2018 recipient of UT Martin’s Outstanding Alumni Award, which is presented to a university alum for outstanding achievement in their career.  

While at UT Martin, Parson was initiated into the Eta Xi chapter of Delta Sigma Theta in spring 1991 and is currently a member of the Memphis Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. 

For UT Martin Chief of Staff Jake Bynum, Parson’s successful career isn’t the only reason she was an ideal fit to be this spring’s commencement speaker. Parson has continued to be involved with the university and find ways to give back to the current student body. 

“In addition to her success, she’s been a great supporter of the institution and has been active in several organizations related to the university,” said Bynum. “She has been involved with Black Alumni Council… she’s been involved in the Chancellor’s Round Table and is most recently the chair of the Chancellor’s Round Table, and she is also involved in the university’s Alumni Council and has been involved in that organization as well. 
She’s also been a huge supporter in our efforts to recruit students, especially out of the Shelby County market, which is where she’s located.” 

Bynum hopes that students are able to use Parson’s story as an example of what they can accomplish with a degree from UT Martin. 

“Tonya is extremely passionate about her support of UT Martin. I think she very much credits her undergraduate experience as being kind of the catalyst that then pushed her forward…there’s this understanding that you really can do anything and go anywhere from UT Martin, and I think Tonya really exemplifies that work and that thought,” said Bynum. “I think that she will be able to provide a message to our graduating students, that they can be and go out and achieve success regardless of where they came from, where they lived, what background they had, that they can be really successful because they now have a degree from UT Martin.”