In the coming months, graduating students will get one last dose of wisdom in their college careers from commencement speakers in business, media, culture and politics before they step into the real world.
At Caltech’s ceremony on June 8, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, biogeographer, and Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction author Jared Diamond will deliver the address.
Ted Koppel, longtime broadcast journalist for ABC, will speak at the University of Southern California’s general commencement ceremony on May 11.
Among those to speak at the school’s satellite sites later in the day are vice chairman of holding company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and right hand man to Warren Buffett, Charles T. Munger (Gould School of Law); Salesforce.com CEO Mark Benioff (Marshall School of Business, undergraduate); Ernst & Young partner Peter Griffith (Marshall School of Business, accounting); and LAUSD Superintendent David Brewer (Rossier School of Education). Will Wright, the co-founder of Maxis which created all of the Sims games, will speak at the School of Cinematic Arts.
Across town at UCLA, entrepreneur Bill Gross, chairman and CEO of Idealab, will address the Anderson School of Management on June 15. Antonia Hernandez, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic organizations in Southern California with assets of more than $1 billion, will speak at the School of Law.
Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, will deliver the commencement speech at Occidental College on May 20.
Claremont Colleges ceremonies are on May 13. Mae C. Jemison will speak at Harvey Mudd College. Jemison is a medical doctor, former astronaut, activist and businesswoman. Karen Tse will speak at Scripps College; she is the founder and CEO of the non-profit organization International Bridges to Justice, which trains public defenders and raises awareness of criminal rights in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Paraguay and Zimbabwe.
Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad, the founder-chairman of SunAmerica Inc. and KB Home, was scheduled to deliver the commencement speech to Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management at a ceremony held on April 14.
