Commencement Speaker
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.
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) |