Commencement Speakers
1862-1879
Year | Speaker |
---|---|
July 11, 1862 | Dr. Pinkney spoke at commencement. William B. Sands and Thomas Franklin were the first two MAC students to receive their degrees. |
June 26, 1863 | Rev. B. B. Griswold |
1864 | [4 graduates, no commencement excercises?] |
1865 | [no graduates ?] |
1866 | [at least 3 graduates, no commencement excercises?] |
1867 | [at least 1 graduate, no commencement excercises?] |
1868 | [no graduates?] |
1869 | [no graduates?] |
1870 | [no graduates?] |
June 22, 1871 | One graduate. Students read addresses |
1872 | [no graduates?] |
June 26, 1873 | [addresses appear to be by students only] |
June 25, 1874 | [addresses appear to be by students only] |
June 24, 1875 | General Samuel Jones, President, Maryland Agricultural College |
June 27, 1876 |
Z. B. Vance, Former Governor of North Carolina |
June 26, 1877 |
John Lee Carroll, Governor of Maryland |
June 25, 1878 |
Col. T. M. Jones, Military Professor |
June 24, 1879 | J. Barron Hope, Norfolk, VA |
1880-1899
Year | Speaker |
---|---|
June 29, 1880 | Mayor F. C. Latrobe of Baltimore |
June 28, 1881 | Honorable William T. Hamilton, Governor of Maryland |
June 27, 1882 | At least one graduate, speaker not identified |
June 28, 1883 | J. D. Warfield, Professor of English Literature and Agriculture, Maryland Agricultural College. W.A. Kirby, K.E. Raply, and R.B.B. Chew comprised the graduating class. |
June 20, 1884 | President Augustine J. Smith. William A. Lakin and Frank Martin received their degrees. |
1885 | [no graduates?] |
June 17, 1886 | [no graduates or closing exercises, due to "recent reorganization"] |
1887 | [no graduates?] |
June 19, 1888 | Major Henry E. Alvord, President, Maryland Agricultural College |
June 19, 1889 | General Bradley T. Johnson |
June 18, 1890 | [addresses appear to be by students only] |
June 24, 1891 | Honorable John M. Gregory, ex-president of the Illinois Industrial University |
June 15, 1892 | Henry Onderdonk, President of St. James College and former President of Maryland Agricultural College |
June 14, 1893 |
R. W. Silvester, President, Maryland Agricultural College |
June 13, 1894 | R. W. Silvester, President, Maryland Agricultural College |
June 19, 1895 | H. O. Devries, Master of State Grange |
June 17, 1896 | Rev. D. J. Stafford, Washington, D. C. |
June 16, 1897 | Henry G. Davis, U. S. Senator from West Virginia |
June 15, 1898 | William L. Wilson, President of Washington and Lee University |
June 14, 1899 | George R. Gaither |
1900-1919
Year | Speaker |
---|---|
June 13, 1900 | Lloyd Wilkinson |
June 19, 1901 | Olin Bryan, Baltimore, Maryland |
June 11, 1902 | Hernando D. Money, U. S. Senator from Mississippi |
June 17, 1903 | George A. Pearre, Cumberland, Maryland |
June 15, 1904 | Edwin Warfield, Governor of Maryland |
June 14, 1905 | Dr. Ira Remsen, Johns Hopkins University |
June 13, 1906 | Isaac Lobe Straus |
June 12, 1907 | Maj. George M. Thomas |
June 10, 1908 | Austin L. Crothers, Governor of Maryland |
June 16, 1909 | Judge Charles W. Heuisler, Baltimore, Maryland |
June 15, 1910 | Eugene O'Dunne, Deputy State's Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland |
June 14, 1911 | J. Harry Covington |
June 12, 1912 | W. T. Warburton |
June 18, 1913 | Dr. P. P. Claxton, U. S. Commissioner of Education |
June 17, 1914 | William B. Wilson, Secretary of Labor |
June 16, 1915 | Dr. Charles E. Munroe, Dean of the Graduate School of George Washington University |
June 7, 1916 | Emerson C. Harrington, Governor of Maryland |
May 30, 1917 | Herbert L. Quick, Member, Federal Farm Loan Board |
May 30, 1918 | Hoke Smith, U. S. Senator from Georgia |
May 30, 1919 | Dr. P. P. Claxton, U. S. Commissioner of Education |
1920-1939
Year | Speaker |
---|---|
June 16, 1920 | Honorable A. F. Lever, Federal Farm Loan Board |
June 11, 1921 | Henry C. Wallace, U. S. Secretary of Agriculture |
June 10, 1922 | General John J. Pershing, U. S. Army |
June 16, 1923 | Alexander Armstrong, Attorney General of Maryland |
June 14, 1924 | Albert S. Cook, Superintendent of Education for the State of Maryland |
June 9, 1925 | T. Alan Goldsborough, United States Congressman from the First District of Maryland |
June 8, 1926 | George E. MacLean, Former Chancellor, University of Nebraska and Former President, University of Iowa |
June 7, 1927 | Frederick N. Zihlman, United States Congressman from the Sixth District of Maryland |
June 2, 1928 | Theodore E. Burton, United States Congressman from Ohio |
June 11, 1929 | R. W. Dunlap, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture |
June 10, 1930 | James Brown Scott, Secretary, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |
June 9, 1931 | Albert C. Ritchie, Governor of Maryland |
June 4, 1932 |
Dr. John H. Finley, Associate Editor, New York Times |
June 3, 1933 | Albert C. Ritchie, Governor of Maryland |
June 2, 1934 | Albert C. Ritchie, Governor of Maryland |
June 1, 1935 | Harry W. Nice, Governor of Maryland |
June 6, 1936 | Charles Henry Davis |
June 5, 1937 | Millard E. Tydings, U. S. Senator from Maryland |
June 4, 1938 | Dr. Gilbert H. Grosvenor, President, National Geographic Society |
June 3, 1939 | Herbert R. O'Conor, Governor of Maryland |
1940-1959
Year | Speaker |
---|---|
June 1, 1940 | Dr. Thomas Parran, Jr., Surgeon General, United States Public Health Service |
June 7, 1941 | Paul V. McNutt, Administrator, Federal Security Agency |
May 30, 1942 | Right Reverend Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen, Professor of Philosophy, The Catholic University of America |
February 4, 1943 | Sumner Welles, Under Secretary of State |
May 29, 1943 | George L. Radcliffe, U. S. Senator from Maryland |
September 30, 1943 | Major General Milton A. Reckord |
December 22, 1943 | J. Harold Sothoron, Maryland State Senate |
March 25, 1944 |
Theodore R. McKeldin, Mayor, City of Baltimore |
June 28, 1944 | Roger Whiteford |
September 28, 1944 | Dr. John C. Krantz, Jr., Professor of Pharmacology, School of Medicine |
December 22, 1944 | [no speaker listed in program] |
March 26, 1945 | Wendell E. Dunn, Principal, Forest Park High School |
June 27, 1945 | Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of Representatives |
June 8, 1946 | Galo Plaza, Ambassador of Ecuador |
June 7, 1947 | William Preston Lane, Jr., Governor of Maryland |
June 5, 1948 | William Preston, Lane, Jr., Governor of Maryland |
June 4, 1949 |
Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., Mayor of Baltimore City |
June 10, 1950 | Eric A. Johnston, President, Motion Picture Association of America |
June 9, 1951 | Malcolm R. Giles, Director-General, Loyal Order of Moose |
June 7, 1952 | Theodore R. McKeldin, Governor of Maryland |
June 6, 1953 | Neil H. Swanson, Executive Editor, Baltimore Sunpapers |
June 5, 1954 | Lieutenant General Emmitt O'Donnell, Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, Headquarters United States Air Force |
June 4, 1955 | Dr. Vernon W. Lippard, Dean of the Yale University School of Medicine |
June 9, 1956 | Dr. John William Gardner, President, Carnegie Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York |
June 8, 1957 | Dr. George Keith Funston, President, New York Stock Exchange |
June 7, 1958 | Dr. Milton S. Eisenhower, President, Johns Hopkins University |
June 6, 1959 | J. Millard Tawes, Governor of Maryland |
1960-1979
Year | Speaker |
---|---|
June 4, 1960 | Fred A. Seaton, Secretary of the Interior |
June 10, 1961 | Luther H. Hodges, Secretary of Commerce |
June 9, 1962 | Thomas B. McCabe, Chairman of the Board, Scott Paper Company |
June 8, 1963 | Lyndon B. Johnson, Vice President of the United States |
June 6, 1964 | Stuart T. Saunders, Chairman of the Board, Pennsylvania Railroad Company |
June 5, 1965 | Hubert H. Humphrey, Vice President of the United States |
June 4, 1966 | Dr. John A. Hannah, President, Michigan State University |
June 3, 1967 | Spiro T. Agnew, Governor of Maryland |
June 8, 1968 |
James B. Reston, Executive Editor, New York Times |
June 7, 1969 | Edmund S. Muskie, United States Senator from Maine |
January 22, 1970 | Dr. John T. Caldwell, Chancellor, North Carolina State University at Raleigh |
June 6, 1970 | Dr. Logan Wilson, President, American Council on Education |
January 25, 1971 | Rogers C. B. Morton, U. S. Congressman from Maryland |
June 5, 1971 | Dr. John E. Corbally, Jr., President Designate of the University of Illinois |
January 24, 1972 | Dr. Alexander Heard, Chancellor, Vanderbilt University |
June 3, 1972 | Mrs. Lucy Wilson Benson, President, League of Women Voters of the United States |
December 21, 1972 | Dr. Steven Muller, President, Johns Hopkins University |
May 19, 1973 | Howard K. Smith [broadcast journalist] |
December 22, 1973 | David R. Brower |
May 12, 1974 |
Ralph Waldo Ellison [author of The Invisible Man] |
December 20, 1974 | Dr. Stephen K. Bailey |
May 11, 1975 | Dr. Ronald Berman, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities |
December 21, 1975 | Dr. Russell E. Train |
May 15, 1976 | Sir Peter Ramsbotham KCMG, The Ambassador to the United States from Great Britain |
December 17, 1976 | Dr. Andrew F. Brimmer |
May 14, 1977 | Herbert L. Block |
December 19, 1977 | Isaac Asimov [scientist and author] |
May 19, 1978 | Dr. Wilson H. Elkins, President of the University of Maryland |
December 18, 1978 | Ernest L. Boyer, United States Commissioner of Education |
May 18, 1979 | Jane Cahill Pfeiffer, Chairman of the Board, National Broadcasting Co. |
December 18, 1979 | Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr., Director Emeritus, Washington Bureau of the NAACP |
1980-1999
Year | Speaker |
---|---|
May 16, 1980 | Katharine Graham, Chairman of the Board and Executive Officer, The Washington Post Company |
December 22, 1980 | Ray Marshall, Secretary of the United States Department of Labor |
May 15, 1981 | Paul S. Sarbanes, United States Senator from Maryland |
December 22, 1981 | William Donald Schaefer, Mayor of the City of Baltimore |
May 14, 1982 | Dr. John B. Slaughter, Director, National Science Foundation |
December 22, 1982 | Dr. Alice Mitchell Rivlin, Director of the U. S. Congressional Budget Office |
May 23, 1983 | Dr. Robert M. White, President, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research |
December 23, 1983 | Benjamin R. Civiletti, Former Attorney General of the United States |
May 24, 1984 |
William J. Raspberry, The Washington Post |
December 21, 1984 | Terry Sanford, President, Duke University |
May 23, 1985 | Peter F. O'Malley, Former Chairman, Board of Regents, University of Maryland |
December 20, 1985 | Dr. John A. DiBiaggio, President, Michigan State University |
May 27, 1986 | Right Reverend John T. Walker, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D. C., and Dean of the Washington Cathedral |
December 23, 1986 | Dr. Ira Michael Heyman, Chancellor, University of California at Berkeley |
May 26, 1987 | Peter V. Ueberroth, Commissioner of Baseball |
December 22, 1987 | Rev. Timothy S. Healy, S. J., President, Georgetown University |
May 24, 1988 | Hugh Downs, Host, ABC's "20/20" |
December 23, 1988 | Steny H. Hoyer, U. S. Congressman from Maryland |
May 25, 1989 | Dr. Joel O. Conarroe, President, Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |
December 22, 1989 | Marian Wright Edelman, Director, Children's Defense Fund |
May 24, 1990 | J. Carter Brown, Director, National Gallery of Art |
May 23, 1991 | Dr. Kathryn J. Mohrman, Administrative Dean, Undergraduate Studies |
December 20, 1991 | Professor Ralph Bennett, School of Architecture |
May 19, 1992 | Dr. William H. Cosby, Jr. [comedian and entertainer] |
December 22, 1992 | Norman R. Augustine, Chief Executive Officer, Martin Marietta Corporation |
May 20, 1993 | Dr. Frank M. Snowden, Jr., [classicist and educator] |
December 23, 1993 | Dr. Linda S. Wilson, President, Radcliffe College |
May 19, 1994 |
Mrs. Jehan Sadat [former First Lady of Egypt, Fellow at the University of Maryland at College Park Center for International Development and |
December 22, 1994 | Alfred W. Alberts, Research Scientist, Merck & Co. |
May 19, 1995 | Carl T. Rowan [journalist and author] |
December 22, 1995 | Robert B. Reich, U. S. Secretary of Labor |
May 23, 1996 | First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton |
December 20, 1996 | Dr. Michael Guillen [science editor for ABC's "Good Morning, America"], and Muppets Kermit the Frog and Elmo |
May 22, 1997 | Bill Bradley, former U. S. Senator from New Jersey and Distinguished Leadership Scholar of the University of Maryland at College Park Academy of Leadership |
December 21, 1997 | Leonard J. Elmore, Class of 1978, lawyer and sports commentator |
May 22, 1998 | Madeleine Korbel Albright, U. S. Secretary of State |
December 20, 1998 | Captain Scott F. O'Grady, U. S. Air Force |
May 24, 1999 | James Carville and Mary Matalin, political commentators and consultants |
December 23, 1999 | Norman "Boomer" Esiason, Class of 1984, former professional football player and television broadcaster |
2000-2019
Year | Speaker |
---|---|
May 25, 2000 | Kweisi Mfume, former U. S. Congressman from Maryland and president of the national NAACP |
December 21, 2000 | John S. Hendricks, founder, chair, and chief executive officer of Discovery Communications, Inc. |
May 24, 2001 | Parris N. Glendening, Governor of Maryland |
December 20, 2001 | Dr. David Satcher, U. S. Surgeon General |
May 23, 2002 | William K. Marimow, editor and senior vice president of The Baltimore Sun and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner |
December 22, 2002 | Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, civil rights leader and President Emeritus of the National Council of Negro Women |
May 22, 2003 | Franklin Delano Raines, Chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae |
December 20, 2003 | Sergy Brin, Class of 1993, Co-founder of Google Technology, Inc. |
May 20, 2004 | Thomas Ridge, U. S. Secretary of Homeland Security |
December 18, 2004 | Chris Van Hollen, U. S. Congressman from Maryland's 8th District |
May 21, 2005 | Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Correspondent |
December 21, 2005 | John E. Splaine, Department of Education Policy and Leadership |
May 21, 2006 | Paul Sarbanes, United States Senator from Maryland |
December 20 , 2006 | Brian Gallagher, President and CEO of United Way of America |
May 20 , 2007 | The Honorable Steny Hoyer (Class of 1963), U.S. House of Representatives |
December 19 , 2007 | Tim Kurkjian, Senior Writer, ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, Analyst/Reporter ESPN TV |
May 22 , 2008 | Carl Bernstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning jounrnalist and author |
December 20, 2008 | Dr. John C. Mather, Senior Astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center and co-winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics |
May 21, 2009 | Leon F. Panetta, Director, Central Intelligence Agency |
December 19, 2009* January 24, 2010 |
James Pitts, Corporate Vice President and President of the Electronic Systems Sector of the Northrop Grumman Corporation |
May 20, 2010 | Victoria Kennedy, president and co-founder of Common Sense about Kids and Guns |
December 18, 2010 | Craig A. Thompson, University of Maryland alumnus, lawyer, author, and active community servant |
May 19, 2011 | DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the National Football League Players Association |
December 21, 2011 | Richard R. Arnold II, University of Maryland alumnus and NASA astronaut who flew to the International Space Station on the 28th mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery |
May 20, 2012 |
John Berry, University of Maryland alumnus and director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management |
December 19, 2012 | Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr., retired Navy Captain, naval test pilot, NASA shuttle pilot, and chair of the Naval Academy's aerospace engineering department |
May 19, 2013 | Cal Ripken, Jr., former shortstop and third baseman for the Baltimore Orioles |
December 21, 2013 | Sylvester James Gates, Jr., University of Maryland physics professor and 2013 National Medal of Science recipient |
May 22, 2014 | Martin O'Malley, former mayor of Baltimore and two-term governor of Maryland |
December 20, 2014 | Eun Yang, UMD alumna, Washington DC, news anchor and Emmy Award winner |
May 21, 2015 | Domonique Foxworth, UMD alumnus, former NFL player, and former president of the National Football League Players Association and National Basketball Players Association |
December 19, 2015 | Florent Groberg, UMD alumnus, retired U.S. Army officer, and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient |
May 18, 2016 | Kevin Plank, UMD alumnus and founder of Under Armour |
December 20, 2016 | David M. Baggett, UMD alumnus, software developer, and founder of technology firms ITA Software and Arcode Corp |
May 21, 2017 | Mark Ciardi, UMD alumnus, former professional baseball player, and movie producer |
December 19, 2017 | Elijah E. Cummings, member of the Maryland House of Delegates for 14 years and the first African American in state history to be named speaker pro tem. Twelve-term U.S. Congressman, representing Maryland's 7th District. |
May 24, 2019 | Michael R. Bloomberg, former mayor of New York and CEO and owner of Bloomberg L.P. |
December 17, 2019 |
James R. Clapper, UMD alumnus and former director of national intelligence. |
2020
Year | Speaker |
---|---|
May 22, 2020 |
Steny H. Hoyer, United States Congressman from the Fifth District of Maryland. |
December 20, 2020 | Dominique Dawes, former Olympic gymnast and multiple medal winner. First African American female gymnast to win an individual medal in the Olympics. |
May 21, 2021 |
Peter Chapman, president and CEO of IonQ, an industry leader in quantum computing. |
December 20, 2021 | Jeff Kinney, author best known for his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series—ceremony canceled. |
May 20, 2022 | Jeff Kinney, author best known for his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series |