Jeff Dunn, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections since his 2015 appointment, will address Troy University graduates at the University’s Montgomery Campus during fall commencement exercises on Dec. 17.

The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. inside the Davis Theatre for the Performing Arts. About 120 graduates are expected to receive their diplomas during the ceremony.

As commissioner, Dunn leads Alabama’s largest law enforcement agency, managing an inmate population of more than 20,000 offenders in 26 correctional institutions; employs a workforce of more than 3,300 correctional officers, supervisors and support staff; and, operates on an annual budget exceeding $500 million.

Dunn’s vision for the department is embodied in four strategic focus areas – staffing, infrastructure, programming and culture. In addition to advocating for the vision, he has established an Inspector General Division to improve operational readiness, built an Anti-Corruption Task Force, created the Alabama Correctional Leadership Academy to provided professional development, and obtained federal compliance in all ADOC institutions, including the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, a nationally recognized model for the effective management of female inmates.

Prior to his current appointment, Dunn had a 28-year career in the U.S. Air Force, retiring at the rank of colonel.

Dunn is a graduate of Birmingham Southern College where he earned a degree in English and a commission through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. He holds a master’s degree in non-profit management from Regent University, a master’s in transportation and logistics from the Air Force Institute of Technology and dual master’s degree in operational design and strategic studies from Air University at Montgomery’s Maxwell Air Force Base.

Dunn and his wife, Susan, reside in Montgomery and have two grown children – Shaw and Morgan.