May 30, 2017

Top Commencement Keynote Speakers of 2017

The 2017 graduation and commencement season rounded up some of the most illustrious and timely keynote speakers.

The roster of commencement keynote speakers included figures as Wolf Blitzer, Colson Whitehead, Bernie Sanders, President Trump, Joe Biden, Ron Chernow, and Senator Cory Booker. Here are just a few of 2017’s great commencement speakers:

Will Ferrell, USC

Actor, comedian, and USC alumnus Will Ferrell was the 2017 commencement keynote speaker at his alma mater.

Katherine Johnson,  Hampton University

Katherine Johnson, the physicist and mathematician who worked for NASA and was an inspiration behind the film Hidden Figures, was the commencement keynote speaker at Hampton University.   

Howard Schultz, Arizona State

Former Starbucks CEO and current executive chairman Howard Schultz spoke at Arizona State University. Starbuck recently unveiled its new employee online degree program in partnership with ASU, making him a good fit as commencement keynote speaker at the university.

Oprah Winfrey, Skidmore College and Smith College

By this point Oprah Winfrey is a commencement keynote speaker expert. Previously having spoken at Harvard, Stanford, and Duke Universities, this year she spoke at two colleges: Skidmore and Smith College.  

Mark Zuckerberg, Harvard

Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, spoke at Harvard–the university he dropped out of as a sophomore to launch his company. The last time Harvard had a high school graduate as its commencement keynote speaker was Microsoft founder Bill Gates in 2007.

Hillary Clinton, Wellesley

Hillary Clinton also spoke at her alma mater, Wellesley College. Clinton also gave a commencement speech at Wellesley in 1969 as a graduating student–making her the first student to ever be the commencement speaker at Wellesley College  

The Dalai Lama, UC San Diego

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to speak at the University of California, San Diego on June 17th.

Sheryl Sandberg, Virginia Tech

Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the only Facebook executive to grace the commencement stage as a speaker. Silicon Valley living legend Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO spoke at Virginia Tech this year.  

 

 

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