It's graduation season, and schools across New England are preparing for their commencement exercises. This year, commencement speakers at Boston-area colleges include governors, actors, news media personalities and global leaders.
At Northeastern University's commencement ceremony on Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry addressed more than 25,000 graduates, urging them to take on the world's most urgent problems.
"The greatest challenges that our world confronts are best addressed - and in some cases can only be addressed - by good and capable people working in common cause with citizens of other nations," Kerry said.
Here's a list of graduation speakers at Boston-area colleges and universities:
Assumption College
Speaker: Dr. Carolyn Woo, President & CEO of Catholic Relief Services
Babson College
Speakers: Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Becker College
Speaker: Dr. Emmett D. Carson, Founder & CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Berklee College of Music
Speaker: Rita Moreno, actor and singer
Boston College
Speaker: Dr. Ernest Moniz, United States Secretary of Energy
Boston University
Speaker: Nina Tassler, former chairman for CBS Entertainment
Brandeis University
Speaker: Julieanna Richardson, founder and Executive Director of The HistoryMakers
Bridgewater State University
Speakers: Elizabeth Warren, United States Senator & James T. Brett, President & CEO of The New England Council
Bunker Hill Community College
Speaker: Marty Walsh, Boston Mayor
Clark University
Speaker: Catalina Escobar, Founder and Director of the Juan Felipe Gomez Escobar Foundation
The College of Our Lady of the Elms
Speaker: Dr. James O’Connell, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School & President of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP)
College of the Holy Cross
Speaker: Harry K. Thomas Jr., United States ambassador to Zimbabwe
Emerson College
Speaker: Alice Sebold, Novelist
Emmanuel College
Speaker: Rev. Liz Walker, minister and journalist
Fisher College
Speaker: Alek Skarlatos, American Oregon Army National Guardsman specialist who stopped a gunman on a Paris-bound train in August, 2015
Framingham State
Speakers: Chris Herren, former Boston Celtic & Founder of the Herrin Project
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Speaker: Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist
Harvard University
Speaker: Steven Spielberg, director, producer & screenwriter
Related: A Behind-The Scenes Look At Commencement Speeches
Lesley University
Speakers: Richard Blanco, poet & Nick Cave, artist
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Speakers: Charles Blow, New York Times columnist & Philip Freelon, architect
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Speaker: Matt Damon, actor
Merrimack College
Speakers: Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker
Mount Holyoke College
Speaker: Joia Mukherjee, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Master of Medical Science Global Health Delivery Program and the Program in Global Medical Education and Social Change
Mount Ida College
Speaker: Steve Pemberton, Vice president & Chief Diversity Officer for Walgreens Boots Alliance
New England College of Optometry
Speaker: Niki Tsongas, United States Representative
Newbury College
Speaker: Karyn Polito, Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor
Nichols College
Speaker: Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker
Northeastern University
Speaker: John F. Kerry, United States Secretary of State
Salem State University
Speaker: Micho Spring, president of Weber Shandwick - New England region
School of the Museum of Fine Arts
Speaker: Gonzalo Fuenmayor, artist
Simmons College
Speakers: Michelle Alexander, author
Smith College
Speaker: Megan Smith, United States Chief Technology Officer
Tufts University
Speaker: Hank Azaria, actor
Springfield College
Speaker: Timothy Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics
Suffolk University
Speaker: Elizabeth Warren, United States Senator
UMass Amherst
Speaker: Wayne Chang, Director of Product Strategy at Twitter
UMass Boston
Speaker: Seth Moulton, United States Representative
UMass Lowell
Speakers: Judy Woodruff, co-anchor of “PBS NewsHour” & Keith Lockhart, conductor of Boston Pops
Wellesley College
Speaker: Lulu Chow Wang, Founder & CEO of Tupelo Capital Management
Williams College
Speaker: Bryan Stevenson, Founder of Equal Justice Initiative
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Speaker: Christine Keville, President and CEO of Keville Enterprises, Inc.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Speakers: Reshma Saujani, Founder and President of Girls Who Code
Earlier: At Wellesley, A Conservative, A Libertarian, And Some Liberals Walk Into A Classroom
