Commencement Speakers at Skidmore (1937 to present)

2023

• Mary Schmidt Campbell, renowned academic, author, art historian, and known for her dedication to the education and global leadership of Black women and for her contributions to expanding professional development opportunities for people of color in the arts.
• Frederick M. Lawrence, accomplished scholar, teacher, and civil rights attorney. He is the author of “Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes Under American Law” (1999), which examines bias-motivated violence and how such violence is punished in the United States.

2022

• Moisés Kaufman, award-winning director, playwright, activist-in-art and founder of the Tectonic Theater Project.
• Charles Johnson, prolific author whose impactful career includes work as a short-story writer, philosopher, cartoonist, illustrator, author of children’s literature, and screenplay and teleplay writer.

2021

• Janet Guthrie, pro race car driver and the first woman ever to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500 , doctorate of laws
• Cornel West, philosopher, author, activist, social critic and one of America's leading public intellectuals, doctorate of humane letters

2020 (Presented in 2022)

• Tricia Hellman Gibbs and Richard Gibbs, doctors of humane letters, physicians and founders of the San Francisco Free Clinic, providing free, accessible medical treatment to those without health insurance and to offering educational opportunities for future medical practitioners

2019

• Alan Lightman, acclaimed author, educator, physicist and social entrepreneur, doctor of letters
• Joe Torre, Major League Baseball's chief baseball officer, celebrated former manager with four World Series wins and nine-time All-Star player, doctor of letters

2018

• Alison Bechdel, acclaimed author, cartoonist, MacArthur fellow and Tony Award winner, doctor of letters
• Robert S.D. Higgins, world-renowned authority in the field of heart and lung transplant and surgeon-in-chief of Johns Hopkins Hospital, doctor of laws

2017

• Wes Moore, decorated Army combat veteran, youth advocate, author, and CEO of BridgeEdU, doctor of letters
• Ann Rubenstein Tisch, founder and president of Young Women's Leadership Network, doctor of letters
• Oprah Winfrey, a global media leader, philanthropist, producer and actress, doctor of letters

2016

• Emanuel Ax, internationally acclaimed Grammy-winning classical pianist, doctor of letters
• Bernice Johnson Reagon, renowned activist, musician, and cultural scholar, doctor of letters

2015

• Julian Bond, social activist, leader in the Civil Rights movement, professor, politician, and writer, doctor of humane letters
• Sallie W. (Penny) Chisholm '69, preeminent biological oceanographer, and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, doctor of laws

2014

• Neil Shubin, best-selling author, paleontologist, and evolutionary biologist is the Robert R. Bensley Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, doctor of laws
• Janet Lucas Whitman, Class of 1959, chair of Skidmore board of trustees, trustee emerita and devoted Skidmore alumna, doctor of humane letters

2013

• David Brooks, political and cultural commentator, regular columnist for The New York Times, and analyst for National Public Radio, doctor of letters
• Cynthia Blum Carroll '78, mining industry leader, Forbes magazine's "fourth most powerful woman in the world" in 2009, doctor of laws

2012

• Terence Blanchard, jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, and Golden globe-nominated film score composer, doctor of humane letters
• Ron Chernow, prize-winning author of five previous books. His first, The House of Morgan, won the National Book Award. His two most recent books, Alexander Hamilton and Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, were both nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography, doctor of letters
• Suzanne Corbet Thomas '62, chair of the Board of Trustees from 2002 to 2008. Member of the board since 1989 and the ultimate Skidmore Ambassador, doctor of humane letters

2011

• Anne Bogart - American theater director, co-founder and artistic director of the SITI Company, doctor of humane letters
• Colin E. Greene, a 2001 graduate of the University Without Walls Program, principal of the largest secondary school in Antigua, member of the Board of Education International, doctor of humane letters
• James M. McPherson - The George Henry Davis '86 Professor of American History Emeritus at Princeton University, author, doctor of letters

2010

• Sir Clive Gillinson - executive and artistic director at Carnegie Hall and partner in the Academy Program with Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute, doctor of humane letters
• Gwen Ifill - journalist, television newscaster, and author, managing editor and moderator for Washington Week and senior correspondent for The NewsHour, doctor of letters
• Gregory Howard Williams - president, University of Cincinnati and author of Life on the Color Line, doctor of letters

2009

• Carter F. Bales –Managing Partner Emeritus & Co-Founder, The Wicks Group of Companies, LLC, doctor of humane letters
• Fred Wilson – artist and Luce Distinguished Visiting Fellow for the Program in Object Exhibition and Knowledge at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, doctor of humane letters

2008

• Ruth J. Colvin, founder of Literacy Volunteers of America; dedicated educator, speaker, and author, doctor of humane letters
• Rita R. Colwell, former director of the National Science Foundation; Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, doctor of law
• Bill T. Jones, world-renowned dancer and choreographer, doctor of humane letters

2007

• Tom Brokaw, NBC News Special Correspondent and formerly the anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News", doctor of letters
• Linda Greenhouse, New York Times Supreme Court Correspondent since 1978, doctor of law
• Nora Naranjo-Morse, distinguished sculptor, writer, and producer, doctor of humane letters

2006

• Douglas Greenberg PS '06, Professor of History, University of Southern California, and Executive Director of the university's Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, doctor of humane letters
• Thomas Kean, former Governor of New Jersey and past President of Drew University, doctor of laws
• Arthur Mitchell, Founder and Artistic Director of the Dance Theater of Harlem, doctor of humane letters

2005

• Carolyn Patty Blum PS '05, authority in the areas of refugee and human rights laws, doctor of laws
• Phil Ramone PS '05, recording industry producer, doctor of humane letters
• Tim Russert, NBC Bureau chief and moderator of Meet the Press, political analyst, doctor of humane letters

2004

• David Halberstam, historian, biographer, journalist, doctor of humane letters
• Bruce Lundvall, recording executive, involved in Skidmore Summer Jazz Institute, doctor of humane letters
• Toshiko Takaezu, world renowned ceramist, faculty of Skidmore's Summer SIX art program, doctor of humane letters

2003

• Joan Layng Dayton '63, chair of Skidmore board of trustees, trustee emerita, leader and fundraiser, doctor of humane letters
• Ellen V. Futter, president, American Museum of Natural History, former president of Barnard College, doctor of laws
• Anne Deavere Smith, actor, playwright, author, and university professor, doctor of letters

2002

• Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker and historian, doctor of letters
• Arline M. Fisch '52, noted jewelry maker and craft artist, doctor of humane letters
• Harold Hongju Koh, scholar and professor of international law, former Asst. Secretary of State, doctor of laws
• Sara Lee Lubin Schupf '62, philanthropist and leader in causes for women in science, Skidmore trustee, doctor of laws

2001

• Joseph L. Bruno '52, majority leader of NYS senate, doctor of laws
• Frank McCourt, Pulitzer Prize winning author, doctor of letters
• Julianne Cartwright Traylor '68, human rights educator and diplomat, doctor of humane letters

2000

• Trisha Brown, dancer and choreographer, doctor of humane letters
• Guido Calabresi, Judge of the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, doctor of laws
• W. Richard West, Director, Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, doctor of letters
• Oscar Tang, philanthropist, investment banker, Skidmore trustee and benefactor, doctor of humane letters

1999

• Kitty Carlisle Hart, actress, singer, and chair emerita of New York State Council on the Arts, doctor of letters
• David Hyde Pierce, actor, Saratoga Springs native, doctor of humane letters
• Arthur Zankel, investment-business leader, Skidmore trustee and benefactor, doctor of laws

1998

• Helen L. Porter, Skidmore first lady, restorer and historian of Scribner House, bachelor of arts
• Myles A. Cane, attorney, venture-capital investor, chair of Skidmore board of trustees, doctor of laws
• David H. Porter, classicist, and musician, fifth president of Skidmore College, doctor of letters
• Susan Kettering Williamson '59, philanthropist, 26-year member of Skidmore board of trustees, doctor of humane letters

1997

• Jacqueline K. Barton, DNA researcher, professor at California Institute of Technology, doctor of laws
• Peter S. Lynch, author, former portfolio manager of the Magellan Fund, doctor of laws
• Anne Tonnesen Palamountain, civic leader, former Skidmore first lady, originator of annual polo benefit for scholarships, doctor of humane letters

1996

• Marian Wright Edelman, attorney, founder of Children's Defense Fund, doctor of laws
• Charles Kuralt, essayist, journalist, originator of TV feature "On the Road," doctor of humane letters
• Donna Shalala (non-commencement), professor, college president, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, doctor of laws

1995

• Johnnetta B. Cole, teacher, president of Spelman College, doctor of laws
• Judith Pick Eissner '64, chair of Skidmore board of trustees, 24-year member of Skidmore board of trustees, doctor of humane letters
• Paul Taylor, dancer, choreographer, doctor of humane letters

1994

• Ruby Puryear Hearn '60, biophysicist, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation vice president, doctor of laws
• Walter J. Turnbull, founder and executive director of Boys Choir of Harlem, doctor of humane letters
• Laurence Tisch, chair of the board of CBS, Inc., philanthropist, Skidmore benefactor, doctor of laws

1993

• Charles T. Close, portrait painter, doctor of humane letters
• Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, educator and sociologist, doctor of laws
• Gordon Parks, photographer and filmmaker, doctor of letters
• Maya Angelou, poet and civil-rights activist, doctor of letters

1992

• Robert D. Ballard, explorer, geologist, oceanographer, engineer, doctor of laws
• Bette Bao Lord, author, civic leader, expert on the Chinese-American experience, doctor of letters
• Helen A. Thomas, Washington correspondent for the United Press International, doctor of humane letters

1991

• James E. McCabe, corporate executive, Skidmore administrator and trustee, doctor of laws
• John S. Morris, minister, Union College president, Skidmore trustee, doctor of letters
• Courtney Sale Ross '70, art curator, interior designer, filmmaker, doctor of humane letters

1990

• Vartan Gregorian, Brown University president, doctor of laws
• Wilma Stein Tisch '48, philanthropist, Skidmore benefactor, doctor of humane letters
• Milton J. Hinton, jazz bassist, doctor of humane letters

1989

• Nancy S. Graves, sculptor, painter, printmaker, film producer and stage designer, doctor of humane letters
• Frank H. Rhodes, geologist, proponent of liberal arts, president of Cornell University, doctor of laws

1988

• Dolores E. Cross, educator, and financial-aid administrator, doctor of letters
• Twyla Tharp, dancer and choreographer, doctor of humane letters
• Arthur Miller, playwright, doctor of letters
• David Riesman, sociologist and author, doctor of humane letters

1987

• Richard Wilbur, poet, essayist, translator, editor, doctor of humane letters
• Lena Rose Spencer, founder of Caffe Lena folk-music coffeehouse in Saratoga Springs, doctor of humane letters
• William Manchester, journalist, historian, teacher, author, doctor of letters
• Joseph C. Palamountain, Jr., political scientist, fourth president of Skidmore College, doctor of laws

1986

• Charlayne Hunter Gault, print journalist, television correspondent, doctor of laws
• David McCord, writer of children's verse, Harvard administrator, doctor of letters
• Hannelore Hahn, author, founder of International Women's Writing Guild, doctor of letters
• George H. Colton, businessman, Dartmouth administrator-fundraiser, Skidmore trustee, doctor of laws

1985

• Otto Whittmann, museum director, doctor of humane letters
• Miriam J. Benkovitz, critic and biographer, Skidmore English professor, doctor of letters
• Denis B. Kemball-Cook, oil company executive, Skidmore trustee, doctor of laws

1984

• Sophie Maslow, Martha Graham-trained modern dancer, choreographer, doctor of humane letters
• Lewis A. Swyer, Albany businessman and civic leader, president of Saratoga Performing Arts Center, doctor of laws
• Louise Beinetti Wise '40, Skidmore volunteer, trustee, and former administrator, doctor of humane letters
• M. Elizabeth Peters Tidball, physiology researcher, advocate for women in the sciences, doctor of humane letters
• John Kemeny, Hungarian-born mathematician-philosopher, co-author of Basic computer language, professor and president of Dartmouth College, doctor of humane letters
• George Ladd Jr., director and president of Filene Foundation, Skidmore benefactor, doctor of humane letters

1983

• Donald E. Reutershan, insurance executive and Skidmore trustee, chair of Skidmore board of trustees, doctor of laws
• Delbert C. Staley, chair and CEO of New York Telephone Company, doctor of laws
• Gloria Wasserman Sachs '47, designer of women's clothing, doctor of letters
• James C. Cooney, chief of security, master of letters
• David McCullough, social historian and author, doctor of humane letters

1982

• John J. Martin, author, New York Times dance editor and critic, doctor of humane letters
• Dorothy Dehner '52, painter and sculptor, doctor of humane letters
• Virginia Weiffenbach Kettering, Dayton, Ohio, civic and cultural leader, health-care philanthropist, doctor of laws
• Henry D. Paley, educator, president of Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities of New York State, doctor of laws

1981

• John Cheever, writer of short stories and novels, doctor of letters
• Nell Nugent '60, Broadway producer, doctor of humane letters
• Florence Howe, professor, founder of National Women's Studies Association, doctor of letters
• Benjamin L. Hooks, director of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, doctor of laws

1980

• Arnold Bernhard, investment analyst, Skidmore trustee and benefactor, doctor of humane letters
• F. William Harder, banker, Skidmore parent, trustee, and benefactor, doctor of laws
• Elizabeth Holtzman, U.S. Representative from New York, doctor of laws

1979

• George I. Davis, insurance executive, 25-year Skidmore trustee, doctor of letters
• Catherine Filene Shouse, civic and cultural leader, creator of Wolf Trap Farm Park for the performing arts, doctor of humane letters
• Joseph H. Hirshhorn, financier, art connoisseur, doctor of humane letters
• Anne Wexler '51, political activist, assistant to U.S. President Jimmy Carter, doctor of laws

1978

• Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator from New York, doctor of laws

1977

• F. Donald Myers, educator, superintendent of Saratoga-Warren Counties Board of cooperative Education Services, doctor of laws
• Ewald B. Nyquist, commissioner of education and president of the University of the State of New York, doctor of humane letters

1976

• Dr. Carl Sagan, astronomer, astrophysicist, author, doctor of humane letters

1975

• Charlotte W. Fahey, Skidmore chemistry professor, doctor of humane letters
• Helen Hayes, actress, doctor of letters
• Sabra J. Hook, Skidmore biology professor, doctor of humane letters
• Margaret Paulding, Skidmore physical education professor, doctor of humane letters

1974

• Avery R. Fisher, musician and philanthropist, doctor of humane letters
• Harold C. Martin, literary scholar, president of Union College, doctor of letters
• Mary Parkman Peabody, civil rights activist (mother of Marietta Tree, grandmother of Frances FitzGerald), doctor of laws
• Marietta Peabody Tree, former ambassador to the United Nations, doctor of laws
• Frances FitzGerald, Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction writer, doctor of letters

1973

• Dr. Aileen Ward, English professor
• John Keats, biographer, doctor of letters
• Catherine Mackin, newspaper and television journalist, master of letters

1972

• E. Alice Moshier '22, Skidmore faculty member, doctor of humane letters
• Everett V. Stonequist, Skidmore sociologist, author, housing activist, doctor of laws
• Constance Eberhardt Cook lawyer, crusader for equal rights, New York State legislator, doctor of laws

1971

• Katherine Scranton Rosendaal, Skidmore trustee, chair of Skidmore board of trustees, civic leader at local, state, and national levels, doctor of humane letters
• Violette Verdy, French-born New York City Ballet soloist, doctor of humane letters
• Edward Villella, New York City Ballet soloist, choreographer, doctor of letters

1970

• Melissa Hayden, New York City Ballet soloist, ballet teacher, doctor of letters
• Charles E. Goodell, U.S. Senator from New York, doctor of humane letters

1969

• Helen Frankenthaler, New York City abstract painter, doctor of humane letters
• Ruth G. Weintraub, political scientist, early advocate of graduate education for women, doctor of laws
• Roger L. Stevens, real estate magnate, producer of Broadway plays, doctor of humane letters

1968

• George Boyd, Skidmore trustee, principal donor of Bolton Hall, doctor of humane letters
• Edward Brooke, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, doctor of laws
• Agnes Gelinas, Skidmore professor of nursing, doctor of humane letters
• Helen Filene Ladd '22, Skidmore philanthropist, doctor of humane letters

1967

• Jacqueline Grennan, teacher, former Sister of Loretto, president of Missouri's Webster College, doctor of laws
• Frances Steloff, founder of Gotham Book Mart in New York City, endower of Skidmore lecture series, doctor of humane letters
• Frank Sullivan, humorist, New Yorker columnist, author, doctor of humane letters

1966

• Richard Eberhart, poet and professor of English, founder of Poet's Theatre, doctor of letters
• Ada Louise Huxtable, architecture and design critic, "lover of cities", doctor of humane letters

1965

• Esther Raushenbush, Sarah Lawrence College president-elect, doctor of humane letters

1964

• Margaret Fonde Jonsson, Dallas civic leader and first lady, Skidmore benefactor, master of letters
• Margaret Chase Smith, U.S. Senator from Maine, first woman elected to both branches of Congress, doctor of humane letters

1963

• Vera Micheles Dean, authority on international development, research director of Foreign Policy Institute, doctor of humane letters

1962

• Doris Spector Rome '47, physician, director of cytology laboratory at Albany Medical Center, doctor of humane letters

1961

No speeches given

1960

No speeches given

1959

• Leona Baumgartner, public-health advocate, first woman to serve as New York City's Commissioner of Health, doctor of laws

1958

• Margaret Mead, anthropologist and ethnologist, doctor of letters

1957

• Josephine Young Case, poet, novelist, teacher, Skidmore trustee, chair of Skidmore board of trustees, doctor of letters
• Marie Blain Moore, Skidmore first lady, master of letters

1956

• Lillian Moller Gilbreth, industrial engineer, time-motion researcher, mother of 12, doctor of laws
• James Hazen Hyde, founder of the Fédération de L'Alliance Française, doctor of laws

1955

• Margaret Clapp, Wellesley College president, doctor of laws

1954

No speeches given

1953

• Kathryn Starbuck, practitioner and teacher of law, public-affairs activist, secretary of Skidmore College, doctor of laws

1952

• Katherine Gillette Blyley, Keuka College president, former member of Skidmore English faculty, doctor of laws
• Barbara Bliss Southerland '30, founder, teacher, and principal of Union School, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, master of letters

1951

• Margaret Bridgman, Skidmore dean, nursing-education consultant, doctor of letters
• Irene Ward McClellan, Skidmore nursing program benefactor, doctor of letters

1950

• Louise Pearce, Women's Medical College president, doctor of laws
• Helene Scherff Taylor '22, librarian, master of letters

1949

• Esther Lucile Brown, director of Studies in the Professions at Russell Sage Foundation, doctor of laws

1948

• Elsie Bond, administrator with State Charities Aid Association, doctor of laws
• Pauline Eggleston Mandigo, president of Phoenix News Bureau, doctor of letters

1947

• Elizabeth Ames, executive director of Yaddo artist's retreat, doctor of letters
• Mary Donlon, chair of New York State Workmen's Compensation Board, doctor of laws

1946

• Sarah Gibson Blanding, Vassar College president, doctor of laws

1945

No speeches given

1944

• Helen McKinstry, physical-education pioneer, president of Russell Sage College, doctor of laws

1943

• Hazel Stiebeling '15, international leader in nutrition research, doctor of laws
• George Dinsmore Stoddard, authority on child development, New York State commissioner of education, doctor of laws

1942

• Ada Louise Comstock, Radcliffe College president, doctor of laws

1941

• Caroline Beach Slade, social worker, women's and children's advocate, novelist, master of letters

1940

• Myral M. Sutherland, Mary McClellan Hospital superintendent, master of letters

1939

No speeches given

1938

No speeches given

1937

• Henry T. Moore, second president of Skidmore College, doctor of laws