This is a timeline of speakers at Sarah Lawrence commencement ceremonies from the class of 1929 to the present. Senior lecturers, a tradition inaugurated in 1989, are also included where applicable.
1920s
| Year | Commencement Speaker |
|---|---|
| 1929 | Henry Noble MacCracken and Ruth Wilmot Anderson, the sole graduate at the first commencement. |
1930s
| Year | Commencement Speaker |
|---|---|
| 1930 | John H. Finley |
| 1931 | President Constance Warren |
| 1932 | Newton D. Baker |
| 1933 | John J. Coss |
| 1934 | Walton Hale Hamilton |
| 1935 | Alvin Sanders Johnson |
| 1936 | George E. Vincent |
| 1937 | Elliott Dunlap Smith |
| 1938 | Luther Halsey Gulick, Helen Merrell Lynd, and President Constance Warren |
| 1939 | Henry Bruere |
1940s
| Year | Commencement Speaker |
|---|---|
| 1940 | Stuart Chase |
| 1941 | Cora DuBois, William H. Schuman |
| 1942 | Eugene Meyer, Leo Gershoy |
| 1943 | Archibald MacLeish |
| 1944 | President Constance Warren |
| 1945 | Henry Noble MacCracken |
| 1946 | Leo Gershoy (Spring Term), Arthur Lee Kinsolving |
| 1947 | Harlow Shapley |
| 1948 | Frederick Lewis Allen |
| 1949 | Howard Mumford Jones |
1950s
| Year | Commencement Speaker |
|---|---|
| 1950 | Her Excellency Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit |
| 1951 | Henry Steele Commager |
| 1952 | Frederick Burkhardt |
| 1953 | George N. Shuster |
| 1954 | Justice William O. Douglas |
| 1955 | Honorable Ahmed Bokhara |
| 1956 | Robert Frost |
| 1957 | Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt |
| 1958 | Frank Lloyd Wright |
| 1959 | Herbert Block |
1960s
| Year | Commencement Speaker |
|---|---|
| 1960 | Harrison Brown |
| 1961 | Max Lerner |
| 1962 | Theodor Reik |
| 1963 | Herbert Marcuse |
| 1964 | Edward P. Morgan |
| 1965 | Sargent Shriver |
| 1966 | Linus Pauling |
| 1967 | Elizabeth Sewell |
| 1968 | John Summerskill |
| 1969 | Charles DeCarlo |
1970s
| Year | Commencement Speaker |
|---|---|
| 1970 | Margaret Mead |
| 1971 | Rene Dubos |
| 1972 | Jacquelyn Mattfeld |
| 1973 | Morris Abram |
| 1974 | Rudolf Arnheim |
| 1975 | Muriel Rukeyser |
| 1976 | Joan Kelly-Gadol |
| 1977 | Colleen Dewhurst |
| 1978 | Bella Abzug |
| 1979 | Stanley Kunitz |
1980s
| Year | Commencement Speaker | Senior Lecturer |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Robert MacNeil | |
| 1981 | George Wald | |
| 1982 | Frances FitzGerald | |
| 1983 | E.L. Doctorow | |
| 1984 | Jane Alexander '61 | |
| 1985 | Meredith Monk | |
| 1986 | Tracy Kidder | |
| 1987 | Sir Claus Moser | |
| 1988 | Toni Morrison | |
| 1989 | Renee Poussaint | Grace Paley |
1990s
| Year | Commencement Speaker | Senior Lecturer |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Paul Newman | Spalding Gray |
| 1991 | Jill Ker Conway | Shirley Kaplan |
| 1992 | Henry Cisneros | Shahnaz Rouse |
| 1993 | Donna E. Shalala | Ilja Wachs |
| 1994 | Sidney Poitier | Pauline Watts '70 |
| 1995 | Joan Konner | Priscilla Murolo '80 |
| 1996 | Cornel West | Komozi Woodard |
| 1997 | Peter Goldmark | Regina Arnold |
| 1998 | Jane Alexander '61 and Johnetta Cole | Chikwenye Ogunyemi |
| 1999 | Joanne Braxton '72 | Michael Davis |
2000s
| Year | Commencement Speaker | Senior Lecturer |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Ian Lipkin '74 | Suzanne Gardinier |
| 2001 | Barbara Walters | Raymond Seidelman |
| 2002 | Anna Quindlen | Nancy Baker |
| 2003 | Shirley M. Tilghan | Michael Moore |
| 2004 | Grace Paley | Joseph Forte |
| 2005 | Susan Meiselas '70 | Lyde Sizer |
| 2006 | Ann Patchett '85 | Fred Smoler |
| 2007 | Alice M. Greenwald '73 | Ilja Wachs |
| 2008 | Jessica Lange | Angel Moger |
| 2009 | Rahm Emanuel '81 | Brian Morton |
2010s
| Year | Undergraduate Commencement Speaker | Graduate Commencement Speaker | Senior Lecturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Julianna Margulies '89 | Suzanne Gardinier |
|
| 2011 | Arianna Huffington | Frederick Strype |
|
| 2012 | Adam Savage | William Shullenburger |
|
| 2013 | Vera Wang '71 | Joseph Forte |
|
| 2014 | Fareed Zakaria | Linwood Lewis |
|
| 2015 | Kwame Anthony Appiah | Amy Goodman | Lyde Sizer |
| 2016 | Mo Rocca | Joan Marks |
Scott Calvin |
| 2017 | JJ Abrams '88 | Jamal Joseph | Joseph Lauinger |
| 2018 | Darren Walker | Kyes Stevens MA ’99, MFA ’00 | Colin Abernethy |
| 2019 | Maggie Haberman '96 | Diane Baker MS ’79 and Francis Collins | Una Chung |
2020s
| Year | Undergraduate Commencement Speaker | Graduate Commencement Speaker | Senior Lecturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Tonya Lewis Lee '88 | Barbara Bowman ’50 | Komozi Woodard |
| 2021 | Jamaal Bowman |
Lyde Sizer |
|
| 2022 | Douglas Brinkley | Joshua Muldavin | |
| 2023 | Bill Lawrence | Maia Pujara | |
| 2024 | U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy | Martin Goldray |