Black Issues in Higher Education: Commencement 2005 speakers

The University of Akron School of Law (Ohio)

Dennis Wayne Archer

President, American Bar Association, and former mayor of Detroit

Aquinas College (Mich.)

Bruce Cole

Eighth Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities

Ashland University (Ohio)

Robin Meade

Lead news anchor for CNN Headline

News' morning show, "Robin & Company"

Augsburg College (Minn.)

Parker Palmer

Writer, lecturer, teacher and activist

Austin College (Texas)

Dr. Robert D. Ballard

Deep sea explorer, best known for discovery of the Titanic

Bennett College (N.C.)

Tavis Smiley

Host of "Tavis Smiley" on PBS

Bentley College (Mass.)

Graduate speaker: Jim Koch

Founder, The Boston Beer Co.

Undergraduate speaker

James H. Quigley

CEO, Deloitte & Touche LLP

Bethune-Cookman College (Fla.)

Patricia Russell-McCloud

President, Russell-McCloud and Associates and author of A Is For Attitude: An Alphabet for Living

Buena Vista University (Iowa)

Benjamin Mordecai

Broadway producer

University of California, Los Angeles

Gary E. Knell

President & CEO of Sesame Workshop

California Institute of Technology

Sandra Tsing Loh

Writer, performer, musician, humorist

California State University, Fullerton

Saturday speaker: Michele Ruiz

Award-winning broadcast journalist

Sunday speaker: Sen, Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine (Calif.)

Chatham College (Pa.)

Dr. Antonia Novello

Former U.S. Surgeon General

Colby College (Maine)

Speaker & Honoree: Dan Harris

ABC News correspondent

Colgate University (N.Y.)

Marian Wright Edelman

Founder and president, Children's Defense Fund

Colorado State University College of Engineering

Ralph W. Christie Jr.

Chairman, President and CEO, Merrick & Co.

Covenant College (Ga.)

Nancy Pearcey

Francis A. Schaeffer Scholar, World Journalism Institute

Daniel Webster College (N.H.)

John Goglia

Former member of the National Transportation Safety Board

Duke University (N.C.)

Ricardo Lagos

President of Chile

Endicott College (Mass.)

Patricia E. Moody

Management consultant, author

The Evergreen State College (Wash.)

Derrick Jonson

Activist, author, small farmer, beekeeper, teacher and philosopher

Fayetteville State University (N.C.)

Robin Roberts

News anchor, ABC's "Good Morning America"

Fisk University (Tenn)

Dr. Mae C. Jemison

Astronaut

Florida A&M University

Sen. Lesley "Los" Miller Jr., D-Tampa (Fla.)

University of Georgia

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue

Guilford College (N.C.)

Dr. Mary Louise "Mel" Bringle

Chair of humanities and professor of philosophy and religion, Brevard College

Hartwick College (N.Y.)

Amo Houghton

Former chairman and CEO of Corning Inc.

Harvard University (Mass.)

John Lithgow

Actor

Howard University (D.C.)

Kweisi Mfume

Former president of the NAACP and former Maryland congressman

Ithaca College (N.Y.)

Ben Stein

Actor, author, economist, civil rights lawyer and college professor

Johns Hopkins University (Md.)

Dr, William R. Brody

President, The Johns Hopkins

University

Johnson State College (Vt.)

Chris Bohjalian

Vermont author and Burlington Free Press columnist

Knox College (Ill.)

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Lehigh University (Pa.)

Maya Angelou

Poet, author, educator and civil rights activist

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Irwin M. Jacobs

Co-founder, CEO and chairman of QUALCOMM

Meredith College (N.C.)

Renee Montagne

National Public Radio correspondent and co-host, "Morning Edition"

Morehouse College (Ga.)

Judge Glenda Hatchett

Star of "Judge Hatchett"

Mount St. Mary's College (Calif.)

Pat Harvey

Award-winning broadcast journalist

Nazareth College (N.Y.)

Dr. Azar Nafisi

Author, professional lecturer and visiting fellow at the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

Niagara University (N.Y.)

Donna de Varona

Two-time swimming Olympic gold medalist

North Carolina A&T State University

Carly Fiorina

Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard

North Carolina Central University

U.S. Sen. John Edwards

2004 vice presidential candidate and former U.S. senator from North Carolina

Occidental College (Calif.)

Marsha Johnson Evans

President and CEO, American Red Cross

The University of Oklahoma

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

University of Pennsylvania

Kofi Annan

U.N. Secretary-General

Philander Smith College (Ark.)

Dr. M. Jocelyn Elders

Former U.S. Surgeon General

Portland State University (Ore.)

Neal Keny-Guyer

CEO, Mercy Corps

Princeton University (Calif.)

Toni Morrison

Award-winning author and Princeton University professor

Providence College (R.I.)

Tom Brokaw

Former NBC anchor

Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.)

Graduate speaker: Ken Thompson, Chairman and CEO of The Wachovia Corp.

Undergraduate speaker: Louis B. Weeks

President of The Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education

Saint Mary's College (Ind.)

Dr. Janet Endress Squires

Director of the Division of Child Advocacy for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and professor of pediatrics at the Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Santa Clara University (Calif.)

Tim Russert

NBC reporter, host of "Meet the Press"

Ned Barnholt

Chairman emeritus of Agilent Technologies

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Ann Hamilton

Artist

The University of Southern California School of Cinema--Television

Saul Zaentz

Three-time Academy Award-winning producer

Southern Utah University

Renee West Norton

President, Primm Valley Casino Resorts

Southwestern University (Texas)

Dr. David B. Clifford

Professor of Neurology and Medicine and the principal investigator of the NIH/NINDS funded Neurologic AIDS Research Consortium

Southwestern University School of Law (Calif.)

Justice Joyce L Kennard

Associate justice of the California Supreme Court

Stanford University (Calif.)

Steve Jobs

CEO, Apple Computer and PIXAR Animation Studio

St. Mark's School of Texas

Roger Staubach

NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, Dallas Cowboys legend