Gloria Steinem

Writer and activist Gloria Steinem, 2010 Radcliffe Medalist

Gloria Steinem, 2010

Sandra Day O'Connor

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor accepting the Radcliffe Medal, June 2009

Sandra Day O'Connor, 2009

Al Gore

Former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Al Gore delivered the keynote address of a multi-day celebration of Harvard’s commitment to environmental sustainability in Tercentenary Theatre on October 22, 2008.

Al Gore, 2008

Edward M. Kennedy

Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy, received an honorary degree at a special convocation in Sanders Theater on December 1, 2008, where he delivered what would be one of his final public addresses.

Edward M. Kennedy, 2008

Best-selling author of the beloved Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, received an honorary degree and delivered the 2008 Commencement Address entitled, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination.”

J.K. Rowling, 2008

Bill Gates

Microsoft Founder and philanthropist Bill Gates delivered the 2007 Commencement Address upon receiving an honorary degree thirty years after dropping out of Harvard College.

Bill Gates, 2007

John Lithgow

Former Harvard Overseer, alumnus, founder of the Harvard Arts Medal, and acclaimed actor John Lithgow delivered the Commencement Address in June 2005.

John Lithgow, 2005

Alan Greenspan

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan spoke to graduates in 1999 on the value of personal character and education to the national economy.

Alan Greenspan, 1999

On September 18, 1998, at a rare, special convocation at which he was presented with an honorary degree, President Nelson Mandela spoke to a crowd of 25,000 in Tercentenary Theatre, calling on citizens of the world’s developed nations to partner with emerging democracies to alleviate hunger, poverty and disease.

Nelson Mandela, 1998

Madeleine Albright

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spoke to the class of 1997 on the 50th anniversary of the historic commencement address given by George Marshall. Albright echoed Marshall’s sentiment, urging graduates to be shapers of history in an increasingly interconnected world.

Madeleine Albright, 1997

Rowling speech

Harvard Voices

Gertrude Stein

Radcliffe graduate and celebrated American author, Gertrude Stein, read from her experimental literary work.

Gertrude Stein, 1930s

Professor Samuel Eliot Morison, renowned historian of Harvard, also at the 300th Anniversary in 1936.

Samuel Eliot Morison, 1936

George C. Marshall

Secretary of State George C. Marshall announced The Marshall Plan on Commencement Day 1947 in Harvard Yard.

George C. Marshall, 1947

At the 1995 Harvard Commencement, honorary degree recipient Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic, spoke to graduates on the common human threads uniting all nations, even those seeking to divide and destroy.

Vaclav Havel, 1995

General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his commencement address in 1993, recalled the long tradition of Harvard and the military, and reminded graduates of America’s responsibilities around the world as it entered into a new era of peace and prosperity.

Colin Powell, 1993

Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, recited a celebratory poem for the occasion of Harvard’s 350th Anniversary.

Seamus Heaney, 1986

Another Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Mother Teresa, of The Society of the Missionaries of Charity, spoke in Harvard Yard on Class Day 1982.

Mother Teresa, 1982

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

In 1978, at the height of the Cold War, the exiled Nobel Prize-winning Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn, delivered a Commencement Address titled “A World Split Apart,” which would be quoted often afterward for its indictment of the West’s failure to stand up to Soviet aggression. This selection is read by Gleb Sidorkin.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 1978

Barbara Jordan

In 1977, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan from Texas spoke to the Harvard Alumni Association.

Barbara Jordan, 1977

Sheldon Glashow

Steven Weinberg

Two Harvard Nobel Prize Laureates talked about exciting developments in their scientific research: for Professor Sheldon Glashow in the field of particle physics; for Professor Steven Weinberg in quantum field theory.

Sheldon Glashow, 1974 and Steven Weinberg, 1976

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