List of Fordham University commencement speakers

The following is a list of keynote speakers at the commencement of Fordham University.

Commencement Speakers 1941–present[1]

Year	Speaker(s)	Notes	Ref.
1941	Bishop J. Francis McIntyre		[1]
1942	Rev. Robert Gannon		[1]
1943	Rev. Robert Gannon		[1]
1944	Rev. Robert Gannon		[1]
1945	Major General Sir Walter Maxwell Scott		[1]
1946	Gov. Thomas Dewey	President Truman also received an honorary degree and gave an address but this was not at June Commencement, it was in May	[1]
1947	Msgr. Ferdinand Vandry	Director of Laval University	[1]
1948	Rev. Robert Gannon		[1]
1949	Rev. Laurence McGinley		[1]
1950	Rev. Laurence McGinley		[1]
1951	Rev. Laurence McGinley		[1]
1952	Msgr. John Middleton	Education secretary Arch of New York	[1]
1953	Rev. Laurence McGinley		[1]
1954	Robert D. Murphy	Deputy Under Secretary of State	[1]
1955	Rev. Laurence McGinley		[1]
1956	Rev. Laurence McGinley		[1]
1957	Rev. Laurence McGinley		[1]
1958	W.A. Harriman	Governor of New York	[1]
1959	Cardinal Cushing		[1]
1960	Dr. Charles H. Malik	President of United Nations General Assembly	[1]
1961	Joseph W. McGovern	Fordham law professor and member of NYS Board of Regents	[1]
1962	Teodoro Moscoso		[1]
1963	Sargent Shriver		[1]
1964	Francis Cardinal Spellman		[1]
1965	Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey		[1]
1966	Rev. Vincent T O'Keefe	President of Fordham	[1]
1967	Sen. Robert F. Kennedy		[1]
1968	Leo McGlaughlin	Eulogy and mass for Robert F. Kennedy	[1]
1969	Sen. Ted Kennedy		[1]
1970	Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan		[1]
1971	James Hester		[1]
1972	Kurt Waldheim	United Nations Secretary General	[1]
1973	Dr. Ernest Boyer	Chancellor of State University of New York	[1]
1974	Governor Malcolm Wilson		[1]
1975	Judge William Hughes Mulligan		[1]
1976	Governor Hugh Carey		[1]
1977	Thomas A. Murphy	Chairman of General Motors	[1]
1978	Alan Alda		[1]
1979	Zbigniew Brzezinski	National Security Advisor	[1]
1980	Patricia Harris		[1]
1981	Paulo Evaristo Cardinal Arns		[1]
1982	Seamus Heaney	Irish Poet	[1]
1983	Felix G. Rohatyn	Investment Banker and Diplomat	[1]
1984	Rev. James Finlay	Former President of Fordham	[1]
1985	Gov. Mario Cuomo	Former Governor of New York	[1]
1986	Robert Hayes	Founder of Coalition for the Homeless	[1]
1987	Sen. Alphonse D'Amato	Former United States Senator	[1]
1988	Charles Osgood	Radio and Television Commentator and Writer	[1]
1989	Fr. Timothy S. Healy	Jesuit Priest	[1]
1990	William P. Ford	Lawyer and Bond Trader	[1]
1991	Marian Wright Edelman	Children's Rights Activist	[1]
1992	Dr. John Brademas	United States Representative	[1]
1993	Peter Steinfels	Journalist specializing in religious topics	[1]
1994	Jonathan Kozol	Writer best known for his works on American public education	[1]
1995	Mary Robinson	President of Ireland	[1]
1996	Rev. Joseph O'Hare	Jesuit Priest and Civic Leader	[1]
1997	Mary Higgins Clark	Author of Suspense Novels	[1]
1998	Judge Joseph M. McLaughlin	Judge	[1]
1999	George Mitchell; David Copperfield (illusionist)	Former Maine Senator; Magician	[1]
2000	Vin Scully	Sportscaster	[1]
2001	Bill Cosby	Stand-Up Comedian and Actor	[1]
2002	Gerald Levin	Mass-Media Businessman	[1]
2003	Ted Koppel	Broadcast Journalist	[1]
2004	Tim Russert	Television Journalist and Lawyer	[1]
2005	John Sexton	Lawyer and former President of New York University	[1]
2006	Chris Matthews	Political Commentator, Talk Show Host, and Author	[1]
2007	Willie Randolph	Major League Baseball Player	[1]
2008	Charlie Rose	Television Journalist and Talk Show Host	[1]
2009	Tom Brokaw	Journalist and Author	[1]
2010	Mary McAleese	President of Ireland	[1]
2011	Brian Williams	NBC News Journalist	[1]
2012	John O. Brennan	Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency	[1]
2013	Richard Engel	NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent	[1]
2014	Tino Martinez	Professional Baseball Player	[1]
2015	Lordina Dramani Mahama	First Lady of Ghana	[1]
2016	David J. Skorton, M.D.	Physician, academic, and CEO of the Smithsonian Institution	[1]
2017	Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga; Sen. Chuck Schumer	Salesian and Cardinal of the Catholic Church from Honduras; New York State Senator	[2]
2018	Dennis Walcot	President & CEO of the Queens Library and former New York City schools chancellor
2019	Tim Shriver	Disability Rights activist and Chairman of the Special Olympics

References

1. "Fordham Commencement Speakers 1941-present". Fordham University Libraries. LibGuides. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
2. Verel, Patrick (May 20, 2017). "Class of 2017 Urged to Face Unsettling Times With a Merciful Heart". Fordham News. Retrieved May 24, 2017.