Celebrity Commencement Speaker Roster 2011

Graduating seniors will soon file onto college and university stages, accompanied by Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" military march, to collect their academic diplomas. As grads flip the tassels on their mortarboard caps, what celebrity speakers will offer witty or wise words to the commencement celebrants?

As always, institutions of higher education have invited politicians, performers, physicians, philanthropists and other popular people to present on graduation day.

Here are some of the most popular celebrity speakers for college and university commencement ceremonies in 2011:

Albright College: Governor Tom Corbett

American University: Richard Lugar, Vera Rubin and Aaron Williams

Babson College: Biz Stone

Barnard College: Sheryl Sandberg

Boston University: Katie Couric

Bowie State University: Rev. Dr. Frank M. Reid

Brandeis University: David Brooks

Bryn Mawr College: Judith Jamison

Carnegie Mellon University: Aron Ralston

Catholic University: John Boehner

Christopher Newport University: Sam Donaldson

College of Southern Maryland: Freeman Hrabowski, III

College of William and Mary: Joseph J. Plumeri

Cornell University: Rudy Giuliani

Dartmouth College: Conan O'Brien

Denison University: David H. Bayley

Dickinson College: Allan E. Goodman

Elon University: Vice Admiral William E. Gortney

Emory University: Janet Napolitano

Eureka College: Newt Gingrich

Gallaudet University: Gary Malkowski

George Mason University: Ret. U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen

George Washington University: Michael Bloomberg

Georgetown University: Paul Farmer, Ph.D.

Grinnell College: Anna Quindlen

Grove City College: Laura Bush

Hamilton College: Al Gore

Hampton University: Bill Cosby

Harvard University: Amy Poehler

High Point University: Lance Armstrong

Howard University: Marc H. Morial

Huntingdon College: Samuel R. Williamson

Ithaca College: David Muir

Johns Hopkins University: Fareed Zakaria

Johnson C. Smith University: Winnie Mandela

Lafayette College: Gwen Ifill

Lehigh University: Ellen Kullman

Loyola University of Maryland: Benjamin Solomon Carson, M.D.

Loyola University of New Orleans: Wendell Pierce

Miami Dade College: U.S. President Barack Obama

Miami University of Ohio: Indra Nooyi

Michigan State University: Steve Wozniak

Michigan Technological University: Norman R. Augustine

Montgomery College: Wallas Loh

Mount Holyoke College: Martha Nussbaum

Muhlenberg College: Tony Kushner

National-Louis University: Rahm Emmanuel

New York University: Bill Clinton

Northwestern University: Stephen Colbert

Ohio State University: John Boehner

Princeton University: Michael Bloomberg

Randolph-Macon College: James "Bud" Robertson, Jr.

Rice University: David Brooks

Rochester Institute of Technology: Brian L. Hinman

Rutgers University: Toni Morrison

Salem College: Ellie Smeal

Sarah Lawrence College: Arianna Huffington

Spelman College: Michelle Obama

St. Joseph College of Connecticut: Luanne Rice

St. Lawrence University: Tom Brokaw

Stanford University: Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa

Syracuse University: J. Craig Venter

Three Rivers College: Mike Huckabee

Towson University: Scott Pelley

Tulane University: Thomas Friedman

U.S. Coast Guard Academy: U.S. President Barack Obama

U.S. Military Academy at West Point: Michelle Obama

Union College: Judy Woodruff

University of California at Berkeley: Paul E. Jacobs

University of California at Los Angeles: Aaron Williams

University of Maine at Fort Kent: Douglas Brinkley

University of Maryland: DeMaurice Smith

University of Michigan: Governor Rick Snyder

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: E.O. Wilson

University of Northern Iowa: Michelle Obama

University of Notre Dame: Robert Gates

University of Oklahoma: Robert Gates

University of Pennsylvania: Denzel Washington

University of Rochester: Ursula M. Burns

University of South Carolina: John Huntsman

University of the District of Columbia: Major-General Errol Schwartz

University of the Pacific: Vicente Fox

University of Virginia: Governor Robert F. McDonnell

Vanderbilt University: Wangari Maathai

Virginia Tech: Kenneth Feinberg

Washington College: Frank Deford

Washington State University: Robert Gates

Washington University of St. Louis: Elie Wiesel

Wellesley College: Jane Condon

Westminster College: Bruce Bastian

Wheaton College: Lisa Beamer

Yale University: Tom Hanks

York College: Governor Tom Corbett

Large, multi-disciplinary universities with multiple commencement ceremonies may boast a roster of celebrity speakers. Many smaller schools tap faculty members and local dignitaries, rather than national or international celebrities, to deliver commencement addresses.


Who is speaking at the graduation ceremonies at your alma mater?


Sources:

"2011 Celebrity Commencement Speakers," at Edu in Review

"Celebrity Commencement Speakers," at WaitWhatHonestly

"Commencement 2011: Who's Speaking Where?" in Washington Post Blogs

"Commencement Speakers 2011," in Huffington Post

"Famous Commencement Speakers," at Invitations4Less

"The 12 Best Commencement Speakers of 2011," at CollegeCandy.com

Plus various college and university websites

"Commencement Speakers of 2011," at CollegeConfidential