Commencement Speakers
Below is a chronological list of previous Commencement speakers.
| Year | Name | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1888 | Daniel Coit Gilman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1889 | Albion Woodbury Small | Professor of History & Political Economy, Colby University | |
| 1890 | Ira Remsen | Acting President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1891 | Bishop Randolph of Philadelphia | ||
| 1893 | Daniel Coit Gilman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1894 | Walter H. Page | Editor, “The Forum” | |
| 1896 | C. Morton Stewart | President of the Johns Hopkins Board of Trustees | |
| 1897 | Ira Remsen | Professor of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1898 | Daniel Coit Gilman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1899 | Herbert Putnam | Librarian of Congress | |
| 1900 | William Osler | Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1901 | Henry M. Hurd | Professor of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1902 | E.R.L Gould | City Chamberlain of New York | |
| 1903 | Abram Winegardner Harris | Director, Jacob Tome Institute | |
| 1905 | Talcott Williams | ||
| 1906 | Bliss Perry | Editor, “The Atlantic Monthly” | |
| 1908 | Professor Henry T. Bovey | Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science, McGill University, Montreal, Canada | |
| 1910 | Johann Heinrich von Rernstorff | German Ambassador to the United States | |
| 1911 | Eugene A. Noble | President, Goucher College | |
| 1912 | William C. Gorgas | Assistant Surgeon General, U.S. Army | |
| 1913 | Albert Shaw | Editor, “Review of Reviews” | |
| 1914 | Robert Latham Owen | Senator from Oklahoma | |
| 1917 | Newton Baker | Secretary of War | |
| 1918 | Edward K. Graham | President, University of North Carolina | |
| 1920 | Albert C. Richie | Governor, Maryland | |
| 1927 | Joseph Sweetman Ames | Acting President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1928 | Joseph Sweetman Ames | Acting President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1929 | Frederick George Donnan | Professor of General Chemistry, University College, London | |
| 1930 | Joseph Sweetman Ames | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1931 | Joseph Sweetman Ames | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1932 | Joseph Sweetman Ames | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1933 | Joseph Sweetman Ames | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1934 | Joseph Sweetman Ames | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1935 | Joseph Sweetman Ames | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1936 | Isaiah Bowman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1937 | Harry Emerson Fosdick | ||
| 1938 | Lord Stamp | Former Director of the Bank of London | |
| 1939 | Isaiah Bowman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1940 | Isaiah Bowman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1941 | Isaiah Bowman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1943 | Isaiah Bowman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1944 | Isaiah Bowman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1946 | Isaiah Bowman | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1947 | Owen Latimore | Director, Walter Hines Page School of International Relations | |
| 1948 | Lindsay Rogers | Professor of Public Law & Government, Georgetown University | |
| 1949 | Vannevar Bush | Head of U.S. Office of Scientific Development & Research | |
| 1950 | James Hamilton Owens | ||
| 1951 | Detlev Bronk | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1952 | John Foster Dulles | Secretary of State | |
| 1953 | Walter Sherman Gifford | U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom | |
| 1954 | Joseph Henry Willits | Dean, University of Pennsylvania Law School | |
| 1955 | Dag Hammarskjold | Secretary General of the United Nations | |
| 1956 | Devereux Colt Josephs | ||
| 1957 | Nathan M. Pusey | President, Harvard University | |
| 1958 | Harold Macmillan | Prime Minister, United Kingdom | |
| 1959 | John Rhyne Killian, Jr. | President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| 1960 | John William Nason | President, Foreign Policy Association | |
| 1961 | Edward K. Murrow | Director, United States Information Agency | |
| 1962 | Julius Adams Stratton | President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| 1963 | Otto F. Kraushaar | President, Goucher College | |
| 1964 | Lester Bowles Pearson | Prime Minister, Canada | |
| 1965 | George Boas | Professor Emeritus, History of Philosophy | |
| 1966 | Thurgood Marshall | Solicitor General of the United States | |
| 1967 | Milton Stover Eisenhower | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1968 | Pendleton Herring | President, American Political Science Association | |
| 1969 | Kingman Brewster, Jr. | President, Yale University | |
| 1970 | Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. | President, Michigan State University | |
| 1971 | Alexander Heard | Chancellor, Vanderbilt University | |
| 1972 | Steven Muller | President, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1973 | Earl Warren | Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court | |
| 1974 | Rafael Hernandez Colon | Governor, Puerto Rico | |
| 1975 | William Scranton | Former Governor, Pennsylvania | |
| 1976 | Tom Wicker
Lewis Thomas |
New York Times Columnist
President, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute |
|
| 1977 | Isaac Asimov
William D. McElroy |
Author
Chancellor, University of California, San Diego |
|
| 1978 | Hyman Rickover
John R. Evans |
Retired U.S. Navy Admiral
President, University of Toronto |
|
| 1979 | Dick Cavett
Rosalyn S. Yalow |
Talk Show Host
Nobel Prize Winner, Biomedical Researcher, VA Hospital, The Bronx, New York |
|
| 1980 | Roger Stevens
Leonard Bernstein |
Chairman of the Board, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Composer & Conductor |
|
| 1981 | Franklin D. Murphy | Chairman, Times-Mirror Co. | |
| 1982 | William Donald Schaefer
Ralf G. Dahrendorf |
Mayor, Baltimore
Director, London School of Economics |
|
| 1983 | Bill Bradley
Harry Woolf |
U.S. Senator, D-NJ
Director, Institute for Advanced Study |
|
| 1984 | William F. Buckley, Jr.
Paul Volcker |
Journalist & Author
Chairman, Federal Reserve Board |
|
| 1985 | John Houseman
James W. Rouse |
Actor
Developer |
|
| 1986 | Roger Revelle
Eric R. Kandel |
Professor, University of California, San Diego
Professor, Columbia University |
|
| 1987 | Howard Cosell
M. Vartan Gregorian |
Sportscaster
President, New York Public Library |
|
| 1988 | Mario Cuomo
J. William Fulbright |
Governor, New York
Former Chairman, Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Senate |
|
| 1989 | Kenneth M. Duberstein
Javier Perez de Cuellar |
Former White House Chief of Staff, Reagan administration
Secretary General of the United Nations |
|
| 1990 | Garry Trudeau
Sol Linowitz |
Cartoonist
U.S. Diplomat |
|
| 1991 | Tom Clancy
Thomas R. Odhiambo |
Novelist
Founder & Director, Center for Insect Physiology & Ecology |
|
| 1992 | Lee Iaccocca
Brian Mulroney |
Chairman, Chrysler Corp.
Prime Minister, Canada |
|
| 1993 | Barry Levinson
Richard von Weizscker |
Filmmaker
President, Federal Republic of Germany |
|
| 1994 | Benjamin Carson
Madeleine K. Albright |
Director, Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hopsital
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations |
|
| 1995 | Ted Koppel
Barbara A. Mikulski |
ABC News Nightline Anchor
U.S. Senator, D-MD |
|
| 1996 | George H.W. Bush
Sadako Ogata |
Former U.S. President
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |
|
| 1997 | Timothy Johnson
William R. Brody |
Medical Editor, ABC News
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 1998 | Elizabeth Dole
William R. Brody |
President, American Red Cross
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 1999 | John McCain
William R. Brody |
U.S. Senator, R-Ariz.
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2000 | George Tenet
William R. Brody |
CIA Director
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2001 | Al Hunt
William R. Brody |
Wall Street Journal Executive Washington Editor
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2002 | Tom Brokaw
William R. Brody |
NBC Nightly News Anchor
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2003 | Michael Bloomberg
William R. Brody |
Mayor, New York
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2004 | Bill Cosby
William R. Brody |
Actor & Comedian
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2005 | Al Gore
William R. Brody |
Former U.S. Vice President
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2006 | Elias Zerhouni
William R. Brody |
Director, National Institutes of Health
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2007 | Brian Billick
William R. Brody |
Baltimore Ravens Head Coach
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2008 | Bill Nye
William R. Brody |
The Science Guy
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2009 | Nancy Pelosi
Ronald Daniels |
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
President, The Johns Hopkins University |
|
| 2010 | Michael Bloomberg | Mayor, New York and Johns Hopkins alum | |
| 2011 | Fareed Zakaria | Host, CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS”and Editor-at-Large, Time magazine | |
| 2012 | Samuel J. Palmisano | Chairman of the board, IBM, Chair of IBM’s Executive Committee, and Johns Hopkins alum | |
| 2013 | Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa | Johns Hopkins Neuroscientist & Neurosurgeon | |
| 2014 | Susan Wojcicki | CEO of YouTube | |
| 2015 | Edwin E. Catmull | President of Pixar & Walt Disney Animation Studios | |
| 2016 | Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee | Film Director, Producer, Writer, and Actor | |
| 2017 | Frank A. Bruni Jr. | New York Times Columnist | |
| 2018 | Bryan A. Stevenson | Public interest lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative | |
| 2019 | Jeffrey Goldberg | Editor-in-chief of The Atlantic | |
| 2020 | Alexis Ohanian | Co-founder & Managing Partner, Initialized Capital | |
| 2021 | Michael R. Bloomberg |
108th New York City Mayor and Founder, Bloomberg LP & Bloomberg Philanthropies
|
|
| 2022 | Samantha Power |
Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author
|
|
| 2023 | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | President of Ukraine | |
| 2024 | Mitt Romney | U.S. Senator, R-Utah | |
Last updated March 27, 2024