Timeline of Commencement Speakers
& Senior Lecturers& Senior Lecturers
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.
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1920s Commencement Speakers Year Commencement Speaker 1929 Henry Noble MacCracken and Ruth Wilmot Anderson, the sole graduate at the first commencement. -
1930s Commencement Speakers 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 Commencement Speakers 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 Commencement Speakers 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 Commencement Speakers 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 Commencement Speakers 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 Commencement Speakers 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 Commencement Speakers 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 Commencement Speakers 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 Commencement Speakers 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 -
2010s Commencement Speakers 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