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Commencement Speakers
| Year | Speaker |
|---|---|
| 1893 | Frank W. Gunsaulus |
| 1894 | Hamilton Mabie |
| 1895 | Woodrow Wilson |
| 1896 | Lyman Abbott |
| 1897 | Newell Dwight Hillis |
| 1898 | Edward Everett Hale |
| 1899 | Franklin H. Giddings |
| 1900 | Robert M. Wenley |
| 1901 | Albion W. Small |
| 1902 | S. Parkes Cadman |
| 1903 | St. Clair McKelvey |
| 1904 | Professor G. Santayana |
| 1905 | James B. Dill |
| 1906 | George Herbert Palmer |
| 1907 | William Allen White |
| 1908 | Samuel Walker McCallÊ* |
| 1909 | Charles E. Jefferson |
| 1910 | Rollo Ogden |
| 1911 | Edwin Emery Slosson |
| 1912 | Charles R. BrownÊ* |
| 1913 | George E. Vincent |
| 1914 | Charles Austin Beard |
| 1915 | Charles E. Jefferson |
| 1916 | Francis J. McConnell |
| 1917 | Hugh Black |
| 1918 | S. Parkes Cadman |
| 1919 | William C. SharpÊ* |
| 1920 | Oswald Garrison Villard |
| 1921 | Hamilton HoltÊ* |
| 1922 | Marion LeRoy Burton |
| 1923 | Paul Elmer More |
| 1924 | Ian Campbell Hannah |
| 1925 | Newton D. Baker |
| 1926 | Robert A. Millikan |
| 1927 | Roscoe Pound |
| 1928 | Harry Emerson Fosdick |
| 1929 | Rollo Walter Brown |
| 1930 | Edwin Montefiore Borchard |
| 1931 | Kemper Fullerton |
| 1932 | Lane Cooper |
| 1933 | Robert Andrews Millikan |
| 1934 | Robert Maynard Hutchins |
| 1935 | Lewis Mumford |
| 1936 | John Erskine |
| 1937 | Robert Frost |
| 1938 | Alan Valentine |
| 1939 | James Lukens McConaughy |
| 1940 | William Allan Neilson |
| 1941 | Hendrik Willem van Loon |
| 1942 | President Wilkins |
| 1943, Feb. | President Wilkins |
| 1943, June | President Wilkins |
| 1944, June | President Wilkins |
| 1944, Oct. | Lawrence E. Cole |
| 1945, Feb. | President Wilkins |
| 1945, June. | President Wilkins |
| 1945, Oct. | President Wilkins |
| 1946, Feb. | Thomas W. Graham |
| 1946, June | President Wilkins |
| 1946, Oct. | Prof. Thomas Kepler |
| 1947, Feb. | President William E. Stevenson |
| 1947, June | Howard Foster LowryÊ* |
| 1948, Feb. | Professor Paul B. Sears |
| 1948, June | President Francis Stephenson HutchinsÊ* |
| 1949, Feb. | Professor Clarence Ward |
| 1949, June | Dr. Ralph Johnson BuncheÊ* |
| 1950, Feb. | President Arthur Sherwood FlemmingÊ* |
| 1950, June | Sir Oliver Shewell FranksÊ* |
| 1951, June | Dr. Paul Howard DouglasÊ* |
| 1952, June | Dr. Thornton Niven WilderÊ* |
| 1953, June | Dr. Raymond Tyson MoyerÊ* |
| 1954, June | Dr. Buell G. Gallagher |
| 1955, June | Adlai Ewing StevensonÊ* |
| 1956 | John Marshall HarlanÊ* |
| 1957 | Chester BowlesÊ* |
| 1958 | Paul Bigelow SearsÊ* |
| 1959 | McGeorge BundyÊ* |
| 1960 | Robert Eugene Cushman |
| 1961 | Henri Maurice PeyreÊ* |
| 1962 | J. Irwin MillerÊ* |
| 1963 | Ralph Emerson McGillÊ* |
| 1964 | Percy Lavon JulianÊ* |
| 1965 | Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Ê* |
| 1966 | Seabury Cone Mastick |
| 1967 | Roy WilkinsÊ* |
| 1968 | Margaret ClappÊ* |
| 1969 | Richard Gordon Hatcher |
| 1970 | Jesse L. JacksonÊ* |
| 1971 | William Edgar StaffordÊ* |
| 1972 | Pete Seeger |
| 1973 | Michael Harrington |
| 1974 | Florynce R. Kennedy |
| 1975 | Harvey Gallagher Cox |
| 1976 | Alex Haley |
| 1977 | Morris King Udall |
| 1978 | Marcus C. Raskin |
| 1979 | Nancy Hays TeetersÊ* |
| 1980 | Louis StokesÊ* |
| 1981 | George Stanley McGovernÊ* |
| 1982 | Andrew YoungÊ* |
| 1983 | Maya AngelouÊ* |
| 1984 | Francine du Plessix GrayÊ* |
| 1985 | William Weil Goldman |
| 1986 | Flora Lewis |
| 1987 | Archbishop Desmond TutuÊ* |
| 1988 | Gardner Calvin TaylorÊ* |
| 1989 | Audre LordeÊ* |
| 1990 | Bronislaw GeremekÊ* |
| 1991 | Faye WattletonÊ* |
| 1992 | Antonia HernandezÊ* |
| 1993 | June E. OsbornÊ* |
| 1994 | Romulus Zachariah LinneyÊ* |
| 1995 | Johnnetta Betsch ColeÊ* |
| 1996 | Robert ColesÊ* |
| 1997 | Allan Henry SpearÊ* |
| 1998 | Damon Jerome KeithÊ* |
| 1999 | John J. SweeneyÊ* |
| 2000 | Oscar Arias SˆnchezÊ* |
| 2001 | William H. Gray IIIÊ* |
| 2002 | Judah M. FolkmanÊ* |
| 2003 | Anthony Lewis |
| 2004 | Margaret H. Marshall |
| 2005 | William Frederick Schulze III |
| 2006 | Juan Guzm‡n TapiaÊ* |
| 2007 | Connie SchultzÊ* |
| 2008 | Fareed ZakariaÊ* |
| 2009 | Dr. Richard N. Haass* |
| 2010 | Julie Taymor* |
| 2011 | Helene D. Gayle* |
| 2012 | Thomas R. Frieden* |
* Indicates speaker received an honorary degree at that commencement.