LOWELL, Mass. – The largest and most diverse class – 4,534 strong – graduated from UMass Lowell at Commencement ceremonies on Friday.

While it is the 12th year in a row that the university has seen a record number of graduates, it is the first time three commencement ceremonies have been held to accommodate them. UMass Lowell’s Class of 2019 represents 43 states and 113 countries and more than 1,600 members graduated with honors and more than 100 with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacquie Moloney presided over the three ceremonies, recalling for the class of 2019 how their ranks include Oprah Winfrey, who was presented with an honorary degree in November when she took part in the Chancellor’s Speaker Series, which raised $3 million for scholarships, including $1.5 million from Winfrey herself.

Echoing Winfrey, Moloney encouraged graduates to “live life with gratitude. When you get up each morning, take time to say thank you.” Moloney also praised graduates’ faculty, family and friends for their support and encouragement throughout the college journey.

Commencement speakers including U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan urged the Class of 2019 to “be ready” because “your calling will come” to address critical issues facing the nation and the world, and graduates should not “make the mistake of waiting your proverbial turn or thinking that life has some grand sequence. Your reaction and your perspective is so powerful…you must play a leading role.”

“This chapter of your life – college – may be ending, but a new one starts today. UMass Lowell has prepared you. UMass Lowell graduates are in demand all around the country. The university is continually climbing in national rankings and gaining national recognition for its accomplishments. UMass Lowell graduates shape every corner of our Commonwealth and of our country,” said Trahan, who represents Massachusetts’ 3rd Congressional District, in her address to those receiving undergraduate degrees at the first of two ceremonies on Saturday.

“Wherever you go next, what’s important to remember is that we need you…to lead in business, science, technology, health care, our government and in your community. The stakes right now are high and it is imperative that you, the graduating class of 2019, recognize your ability to re-shape our country,” she said.

UMass Lowell Distinguished University Professor Meg Bond, director of UMass Lowell’s Center for Women and Work and a faculty member in psychology, addressed graduates at Friday’s ceremony for those receiving master’s and doctoral degrees.

“Your creativity and newly minted expertise will enable you to find new, unexplored angles to address the protracted challenges of our communities and our country. That’s exciting. You will be even more impactful if you take care to anchor those new ideas in an understanding of the past,” said Bond.

“Hold onto your enthusiasm, but anchor your work in understanding where your efforts fit into a broader arc; be that the history of the scientific or scholarly endeavors to which you strive to contribute, of the school you enter as a new teacher or administrator, of the new organization you join or hope to lead and of the communities in which you live and work,” she said.

Jack Wilson, former UMass system president and current UMass Lowell distinguished professor of higher education, emerging technologies and innovation, was presented with an honorary degree for his achievements in education, industry and public service. He delivered the address to undergraduates receiving degrees at the second ceremony on Saturday.

“It took a lot of work to get to this point. It took work in high school to qualify for UMass Lowell, and it took more work to get to the point that you can sit here today and look back with satisfaction at what you have accomplished. We are also looking forward to all that you will accomplish in the future. All of us are counting on it,” said Wilson, founder of the Jack M. Wilson Center for Entrepreneurship at UMass Lowell.