Commencement Speaker Archive

Commencement speakers dating back to Spring 1961 can be found here.

2020 – 2024

Ceremony	Speaker Name	Profession
Spring 2024	Dr. David W. C. MacMillan	Nobel Prize-winning Chemist
Fall 2023	Debbie Antonelli	ESPN and CBS College Basketball Analyst
Spring 2023	General Anthony J. Cotton	Commander, United States Strategic Command
Fall 2022	Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young	USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics
Spring 2022	Mohamed L. Mansour	Chairman, Mansour Group & ManCapital
Fall 2021	Mark Templeton	President and CEO, Citrix Systems [retired]
August 2021 *	Cindy Eckert	Founder and CEO, The Pink Ceiling
Spring 2021	Russell Wilson	Super Bowl Champion and Quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks
Fall 2020 ^	Christina Hammock Koch	NASA Astronaut
Spring 2020 +	N/A	N/A

* This in-person ceremony recognized graduates of the Class of 2020
^ This virtual ceremony recognized graduates of the Class of 2020
+ No ceremony due to COVID-19 pandemic

2010 – 2019

Ceremony	Speaker Name	Profession
Fall 2019	Dr. William L. Roper	Interim President, University of North Carolina
Spring 2019	Virginia M. (Ginni) Rometty	Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, IBM
Fall 2018	Dr. Christine Mann Darden	NASA Engineer and Executive
Spring 2018	Marian Wright Edelman	Founder and President, Children’s Defense Fund
Fall 2017	Chancellor W. Randolph Woodson	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 2017	Nancy McFarlane	Mayor, City of Raleigh
Fall 2016	Margaret Spellings	President, The University of North Carolina
Spring 2016	Admiral Michelle Howard	Vice Chief of Naval Operations
Fall 2015	Ambassador Karl Eikenberry	United States Army [retired] and former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan
Spring 2015	France A. Córdova	Director, National Science Foundation
Fall 2014	Vivian Howard	Chef and Owner of the Chef & The Farmer and the Boiler Room Oyster Bar in Kinston, NC
Spring 2014	David Ferriero	Archivist of the United States and Head of the National Archives and Records Administration
Fall 2013	Chancellor W. Randolph Woodson	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 2013	Philip Freelon	Founder and President of the Freelon Group
Fall 2012	Dickson B. (Doc) Hendley	Founder and President, Wine To Water
Spring 2012	Philip Rivers	Record-setting passer for NC State and Quarterback, NFL San Diego Chargers
Fall 2011	Dr. Rajendra Pachauri	Nobel Prize winner and world leader in the study of climate change
Spring 2011	James E. Rogers	President and CEO, Duke Energy
Fall 2010	General Raymond T. Odierno	Commander, United States Joint Forces Command
Spring 2010	Charles P. Rose, Jr.	Executive Editor and Anchor, “Charlie Rose” show

2000 – 2009

Ceremony	Speaker Name	Profession
Fall 2009	No Speaker (Dr. Rajendra Pachauri sick)	Nobel-Prize winner and world leader in the study of climate change
Spring 2009	Dr. John Seely Brown	Independent Co-Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation
Fall 2008	William (Bill) Cowher	Super Bowl-winning coach and CBS Sports Analyst
Spring 2008	Erskine Bowles	President, The University of North Carolina
Fall 2007	Billy Ray Hall	Founding President, the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center
Spring 2007	Dr. Kenneth Olden	Chief of the Metastasis Section, Laboratory of Molecular Carcinogenesis at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Fall 2006	The Honorable Bonnie McElveen-Hunter	Chairman, The American Red Cross and CEO, Pace Communications
Spring 2006	Dr. Ralph Cicerone	President, National Academy of Sciences
Fall 2005	William R. McNeal	Superintendent, Wake County Public School System
Spring 2005	Dr. Johnnetta Cole	President, Bennett College
Fall 2004	R. Scott Wallinger	Senior Vice President, MeadWestvaco Corporation [retired]
Spring 2004	Lieutenant General Dan K. McNeill	Commanding Officer, U.S. Military Forces in Afghanistan
Fall 2003	The Honorable Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson	President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Spring 2003	Phil Donahue	Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Television Host
Fall 2002	Dr. James H. Goodnight	CEO, Chairman, Co-Founder and President, SAS Institute
Spring 2002	William James Raspberry	Washington Post Columnist
Fall 2001	The Honorable James B. Hunt, Jr.	Former Governor of North Carolina
Spring 2001	Dr. Harm de Blij	Author, Professor and Television Personality
Fall 2000	Father Theodore Hesburgh	President Emeritus, the University of Notre Dame
Spring 2000	The Honorable Donna Shalala	Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

1990 – 1999

Ceremony	Speaker Name	Profession
Fall 1999	Gerald J. Butters	President, Lucent Technologies’ Optical Networking Group
Spring 1999	Senator John Edwards	United States Senator from North Carolina
Fall 1998	Benjamin S. Ruffin	Chairman, Board of Governors
Spring 1998	General Henry Hugh Shelton	Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Fall 1997	Dr. Marcus L. Martin	Professor and Chairman, Emergency Medicine, University of Virginia
Spring 1997	The Honorable J. D. Hayworth	United States Congressman from Arizona
Fall 1996	Dr. Jerry Punch	ESPN Sports Reporter
Spring 1996	Fred McFeely Rogers	Host, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on PBS
Fall 1995	The Honorable Burley B. Mitchell, Jr.	Chief Justice, The Supreme Court of North Carolina
Spring 1995	Dr. E. Gordon Gee	President, The Ohio State University
Fall 1994	Dr. Albert Carnesale	Acting President and Provost, Harvard University
Spring 1994	Elizabeth Dole	President, American Red Cross
Fall 1993	Dr. Ernest L. Boyer	President, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Learning
Spring 1993	Governor James B. Hunt	Governor of North Carolina
Fall 1992	Dr. John Hope Franklin	James B. Duke Professor of History Emeritus, Duke University
Spring 1992	John T. Caldwell	Chancellor Emeritus, NC State University
Fall 1991	General Maxwell R. Thurman	U. S. Army [retired]
Spring 1991	Dr. William Friday	President Emeritus, The University of North Carolina
Fall 1990	Dr. Larry K. Monteith	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1990	Maya Angelou	Reynolds Professor of American Studies

1980 – 1989

Ceremony	Speaker Name	Profession
Spring 1989	The Honorable James G. Martin	Governor of North Carolina
Spring 1988	Edwin Newman	Broadcast Journalist
Spring 1987	Chancellor Bruce R. Poulton	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1986	Dr. William Friday	President Emeritus, The University of North Carolina
Spring 1985	Dr. Leo Kenneth Bustad	Professor and Dean Emeritus, College of Veterinary Medicine Washington State University
Spring 1984	Dr. Abraham Holtzman	Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, NC State University
Spring 1983	Bill Monroe	Moderator and Producer, Meet the Press
Spring 1982	Claude Ramsey	Chairman and President, Akzona Incorporated
Spring 1981	Dr. Frank Rhodes	President, Cornell University
Spring 1980	Dr. William E. Davis	President, University of New Mexico

No fall ceremonies were held prior to Fall 1990

1970 – 1979

Ceremony	Speaker Name	Profession
Spring 1979	Dr. E. T. York, Jr.	Chancellor, State University System of Florida
Spring 1978	Roy H. Park	President, Park Broadcasting Inc. and Park Newspapers, Inc.
Spring 1977	The Honorable James B. Hunt, Jr.	Governor of North Carolina
Spring 1976	The Honorable Sam J. Ervin, Jr.	Former United States Senator from North Carolina
Spring 1975	Chancellor John Tyler Caldwell	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1974	Chancellor John Tyler Caldwell	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1973	Chancellor John Tyler Caldwell	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1972	William D. Ruckelshaus	Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency
Spring 1971	Chancellor John Tyler Caldwell	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1970	Dr. John A. Hannah	Administrator, United States Agency for International Development

No fall ceremonies were held prior to Fall 1990

1961 – 1969

Ceremony	Speaker Name	Profession
Spring 1969	Mark O. Hatfield	United States Senator from Oregon
Spring 1968	Chancellor John Tyler Caldwell	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1967	Chancellor John Tyler Caldwell	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1966	Chancellor John Tyler Caldwell	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1965	Chancellor John Tyler Caldwell	Chancellor, NC State University
Spring 1964	Clifford M. Hardin	Chancellor, University of Nebraska
Spring 1963	David E. Bell	Director, United States Agency for International Development
Spring 1962	Julius A. Stratton	President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Spring 1961	George Wells Beadle	Chancellor, University of Chicago