Commencement Speakers -­‐ 1995 to 2015 Present
Year
Ceremony
Speaker
Title/Description
HD Received
2015
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Paul Saginaw/Ari Weinzweig
Robert J. Shiller
Martha Minow
Co-Owners and Founding Partners, Zingerman's Community of Businesses
Laws
Science
Laws
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Mary Barra
Daniel Okrent
Charles F. Bolden, Jr.
CEO, General Motors Company
Administrator of NASA, ret. US MarineCorps MajGenl, former NASA Astronaut
Engineering
Humane Letters
Science
2013
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercies
Winter Commencement
Richard (Dick) Costolo
Rosabeth Kanter
Michele Norris-Johnson
CEO, Twitter
Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor, Harvard, Editor, Harvard
National Public Radio journalist
Laws
Humane Letters
Humane Letters
2012
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercies
Winter Commencement
Sanjay Gupta
Susan Orlean
Raynard Kington
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
Journalist and Author
President, Grinnell College
Humane Letters
Humane Letters
Laws
2011
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercies
Winter Commencement
Richard D. Snyder
Eugene Robinson
Jill Abramson
48th Governor of Michigan
Journalist and Author
Executive Editor, New York Times
Laws
Humane Letters
Humane Letters
2010
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercies
Winter Commencement
Barack Obama
Charles Vest
Daniel Kahneman
44th President of the United States
President, National Academy of Engineering
Psychologist, Nobel Laureate Economics
Laws
Laws
Science
2009
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Lawrence Page
Michael Posner
Jeff Daniels
Co-Founder and President, Google
Cognitive Neuroscientist
Actor
Engineering
Science
Fine Arts
2008
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Robert W. Woodruff
Frances Allen
Roger S. Penske
ABC News Anchor, Journalist
Computer Scientist, Turing Award Winner
Chairman, Penske Corporation
Laws
Science
Laws
2007
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
William Jefferson Clinton
Philip Converse
Francis S. Collins
42nd President of the United States
Sociologist
Former Director, National Human Genome Research Institute
Laws
Science
Science
2006
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Christiane Amanpour
Amartya Sen
Dave Bing
Journalist and Chief International Correspondent, CNN
Economist, Nobel Laureate
Chairman, The Bing Group
Humane Letters
Science
Laws
2005
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
John Seely Brown
Mildred S. Dresselhaus
Freeman J. Dyson
Computer Scientist
Physicist
Professor Emeritus, Institute of Advanced Study; Mathematician and Physicist
Engineering
Science
Science
2004
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
David E. Davis, Jr.
Julius L. Chambers
Robert P. Moses
Journalist, Founder and Editor Emeritus of Automobile Magazine
Civil Rights Leader and Educator
Civil Rights Activist, Educator of Mathematics, Founder and President, The Algebra Project, Inc.
Humane Letters
Laws
Laws
2014
Sterling Prof of Economic, Yale Univ; Prof of Finance, Yale School of Management
Dean, Harvard Law School
U-­‐M alumnus, author, editor, journalist and cultural historian
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Commencement Speakers -­‐ 1995 to 2015 Present
2003
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Jennifer Granholm
John J. H. Schwarz
Thomas J. Miller
47th Governor of Michigan
Physician, Former Michigan State Senator
United States Ambassador to Greece
Laws
Laws
Laws
2002
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Willima H. Gray
Donna Shalala
Philip Levine
CEO, College Fund/UNCF, Social Activist
President, University of Miami
Poet and 1995 Pulitzer Prize Winner
Laws
Laws
Humane Letters
2001
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Robert Pinsky
Marshall Sahlins
Charles Baxter
Former US Poet Laureate
Anthropologist
Author and Adjunct Professor of English Language and Literature
Humane Letters
Humane Letters
No degree awarded
2000
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
David Halberstam
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Journalist, Author, Pulitzer Prize Recipient
Humane Letters
Music
Winter Commencement
Elmore Leonard
Distinguished Professor of History, Curator, Smithsonian, Musician and Producer
Popular Contemporary Author
1999
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Kofi Annan
Shirley Malcolm
Romano Prodi
7th Secretary General of United Nations
Chemist, Science Policy and Education Policy
President of the European Community, Former Prime Minister of Italy
Laws
Science
Laws
1998
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Mamphela Ramphele
Richard Ford
David DiChiera
Chancellor, Cape Town University
Author
Founder and General Director, Michigan Opera Theatre
Laws
Humane Letters
1997
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Lee Bollinger
Lee Bollinger
Ken Burns
12th President, University of Michigan
12th President, University of Michigan
Filmmaker and Historian
No degree awarded
No degree awarded
Laws
1996
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Johnetta B. Cole
James J. Duderstadt
Sandra Day O'Connor
Educator, President Spellman College
11th President, University of Michigan
United States Supreme Court Justice
Laws
No degree awarded
Laws
1995
Spring Commencement
University Graduate Exercises
Winter Commencement
Marian W. Edelman
William G. Bowen
*No Speaker*
Founder and President Children's Defense Fund
President, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
*Each honorary degree recipient made brief remarks*
Laws
Laws
Humane Letters
Music
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