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Commencement Speaker

View Prior Honorees

Undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, and alumni are invited to submit names of potential 2017 commencement speakers to the Commencement Speaker Nominations Committee, the membership of which includes faculty, staff, and student representatives.

Commencement is an important part of university life where we celebrate the culmination of much hard work and achievement. As part of the ceremony, we invite a distinguished guest to address the graduates and the academic community. This individual should reflect the goals and values of Lehigh University.  Nominees should be someone whose work and achievements reflect our value system at Lehigh and whose message is one that will serve as a capstone to our graduates' educational experience. The committee also welcomes you to re-submit the names of candidates who were nominated, but not selected, in past years. Nominations are accepted year-round on a rolling basis, but only those received by midnight on Friday, March 11, 2016, will be assured of full consideration for the May 2017 Commencement ceremony. The Commencement Speaker Nominations Committee will review the nominations and provide a list of recommended nominees to the President, who consults with the Board of Trustees before selecting the final speaker. The 2017 Commencement speaker selection will be announced to the campus community and the public during the 2016-17 academic year.

Students' names who submit nominations will automatically be entered in prize drawings sponsored by the Dean of Students Office. Members of the Class of 2017 are particularly encouraged to nominate, but the nominations process is open to all members of the Lehigh campus community and extended community (parents, alumni, friends, community members). Persons may make multiple nominations.

About You
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About the Nominee
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You may upload a Curriculum Vitae or other supporting document for this nomination.

Prior Honorees

Year

Honoree

2015

Walter S. Isaacson

2014

Martin "Marty" Baron '76

2013

Bill Nye "The Science Guy"

2012

His Excellency Ali Al-Naimi '62

2011

Ellen Kullman

2010

Dr. Elie Wiesel

2009

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs

2008

William J. Amelio '79

2007

Erik Weihenmayer

2006

Ken Burns

2005

Maya Angelou

2004

Kurt Vonnegut

2003

Tim Russert

2002

Christine Todd Whitman

2001

Thomas J. Ridge

2000

Montel Williams

1999

Katherine A. Couric

1998

Steve Forbes

1997

Thomas Kean

1996

Marilyn Tucker Quayle and James Danforth Quayle

1995

Catherine Crier

1994

Dr. Joyce Brothers

1993

Robert W. Galvin

1992

R. E. Turner

1991

Bill Bradley

1990

Carl Sagan

1989

Sanford N. McDonnell

1988

Donald J. Trump

1987

Bill Cosby

1986

William W. Scranton III

1985

John Irving

1984

Malcom S. Forbes

1983

Lee A. Iacocca '45

1982

John W. Oswald

1981

Col. Thomas E. Schaefer W.S.S.F.

1980

Henry A. Kissinger

1979

James A. Michener

1978

James C. Fletcher

1977

Howard K. Smith

1976

Hedley W. Donovan

1975

The Hon. Peter W. Rodino Jr.

1974

Loren C. Eiseley

1973

Edward E. David, Jr.

1972

The Honorable John C. Pittenger

1971

The Honorable Margaret Chase Smith

1970

William F. Buckley Jr.

1969

The Honorable Everett Hughes

1968

The Honorable Hugh Scott

1967

Horton Guyford Stever

1966

Thomas Keith Glennan

1965

Harvey Alexander Neville

1964

James Alfred Perkins

1963

The Honorable William Warren Scranton

1962

Wynn Laurence LePage

1961

Sir Hugh Scott Taylor

1960

Allan Nevins

1959

The Honorable Arthur Sherwood Flemming

1958

Frederick Russell Kappel

1957

Eric Arthur Walker

1956

The Honorable Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.

1955

The Honorable Charles Sparks Thomas

1954

Monroe Jackson Rathbone

1953

George Rowland Collins

1952

Frank Whittemore Abrams

1952

Erwin Dain Canham

1951

Henning Webb Prentis

1951

James Henderson Duff

1948

Eugene Gifford Grace

1947

William Frederick Halsey

1946

Martin Dewey Whitaker

1945

The Honorable Harold H. Burton

1944

William Pearson Tolley

1943

Harold Willis Dodds

1942

Alfred Noyes

1941

Alexander J. Stoddard

1940

Henry Woodburn Chase

1939

Francis Bowes Sayre

1938

Douglas Southall Freeman

1937

Francis Pendleton Gaines

1936

Walter A. Jessup

1935

William E. Lingelbach

1934

Frank Pierrepont Graves

1933

Mark Sullivan

1932

Charles Reynolds Brown

1931

John Dewey

1930

George Edgar Vincent

1929

-

1928

-

1927

Michael Idvorsky Pupin

1926

Henry Smith Pritchett

1925

Honorable Joeseph Buffington

1924

Augustus Parker-Smith (Alumni Address)