An asterix (*) denotes that the full text of the address is available. All others are summaries or excerpts. A caret (^) denotes an external link to that year’s address.
Year | Month | Speaker(s) | Title |
---|---|---|---|
1899 | June 15 | Hampton L. Carson* | |
1900 | June 13 | William L. Prather* | |
1901 | June 12 | James M. Beck* | The Student of Wittenberg and his Dram of Eale |
1902 | June 18 | Nicholas Murray Butler* | |
1903 | June 17 | Horace Howard Furness* | |
1904 | June 15 | David McConnell Steele* | |
1905 | June 14 | George Harris* | |
1906 | June 13 | John Bach McMaster* | |
1907 | June 19 | John A. Johnson* | The University Man’s Opportunity |
1908 | June 17 | Edgar Fahs Smith* | Our University |
1909 | June 16 | Josiah H. Penniman* | The Best in University Training |
1910 | June 15 | Philander C. Knox* | The Spirit and Purpose of American Diplomacy |
1911 | June 21 | Thomas R. Marshall* | The University Man |
1912 | June 19 | Joseph Swain* | Privileges and Duties of American Citizenship |
1913 | June 18 | Edward P. Cheyney* | |
1914 | June 17 | Jean J. Jusserand* | |
1915 | June 16 | Felix E. Schelling* | |
1916 | June 21 | Bliss Perry* | |
1917 | June 20 | Charles Franklin Thwing* | |
1919 | June 19 | Leonard Wood* | |
1920 | June 16 | Edgar Fahs Smith* | Farewell Address |
1921 | June 15 | Ernest Martin Hopkins* | The Improvability of Man |
1922 | June 14 | Josiah H. Penniman, Cornelius Weygandt, and Alfred Stengel* | |
1923 | February 16 | Warren Powers Laird* | Art and Life |
1923 | June 20 | Josiah H. Penniman, Thomas P. McCutcheon, and Edwin R. Keedy* | |
1924 | February 16 | Charles R. Turner* | |
1924 | June 18 | Solomon S. Huebner and Walton Brooks McDaniel* | |
1925 | February 14 | J.P. Wickersham Crawford* | |
1925 | June 17 | Rodney H. True and O.H. Perry Pepper* | The University Man as Citizen (True) |
1926 | February 13 | Robert Belle Burke* | |
1926 | June 16 | Edgar A. Singer and George W. McClelland* | |
1927 | February 12 | Arthur Willis Goodspeed* | |
1927 | June 15 | William E. Lingelbach* | Universities and Progress |
1928 | February 18 | Josiah H. Penniman* | |
1928 | June 20 | Frederic L. Ballard* | |
1929 | February 16 | Harold Pender* | |
1929 | June 19 | St. George L. Sioussat* | Frontiers for the Future |
1930 | June 18 | Cheesman A. Herrick* | University of Pennsylvania’s Service to City and Commonwealth |
1931 | June 17 | Thomas Sovereign Gates* | The Human Side of Higher Education |
1932 | June 22 | Harlow Shapley* | A Running in Trails |
1933 | February 18 | W. Brooke Stabler | |
1933 | June 21 | Horace Stern | |
1935 | June 19 | Isaiah Bowman | |
1937 | June 9 | Cordell Hull | |
1939 | February 18 | Joseph Henry Willits | |
1939 | June 14 | Josiah H. Penniman | |
1940 | February 17 | Frank Pierrepont Graves | |
1941 | February 15 | Felix Muskett Morley | |
1941 | June 11 | Archibald MacLeish* | Phophets of Doom |
1942 | February 14 | Douglas Southall Freeman | |
1942 | June 2 | Rex Stowers Clements | |
1942 | September 16 | Oliver James Hart | |
1943 | February 6 | Henning Webb Prentiss, Jr. | The Cult of Competency |
1943 | June 2 | John Edwin Pomfret* | National Morale |
1944 | March 4 | Ralph Barton Perry | Idealism in Politics |
1944 | October 31 | Charles Francis Jenkins | |
1945 | June 28 | Arthur T. Vanderbilt | |
1945 | October 30 | Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve | |
1946 | February 28 | J. Robert Oppenheimer | |
1946 | June 27 | Tai-Chi Quo | |
1946 | August 29 | Herbert Funk Goodrich | |
1947 | March 15 | Chester Irving Barnard | |
1947 | June 18 | Roger Adams | |
1947 | August 28 | Earl Grant Harrison | |
1948 | February 7 | George Keith Funston | |
1948 | June 9 | James Francis Byrnes | |
1949 | February 12 | James Foster Dulles | |
1949 | June 15 | Detlev Wulf Bronk | |
1949 | August 24 | William Wilcox Edel | |
1950 | February 11 | Paul Grey Hoffmann | |
1950 | June 14 | Thomas Knight Finletter | |
1951 | February 10 | George Keith Funston | |
1951 | June 13 | James Rhyne Killian | |
1951 | September 19 | Robert Strausz-Hupé | |
1952 | February 16 | Boyd Lee Spahr | |
1952 | June 18 | Henry Merritt Wriston* | |
1953 | February 7 | Harry Elmer Humphreys, Jr. | |
1953 | June 10 | Milton Stover Eisenhower* | |
1954 | February 13 | Dag Hammarskjöld | |
1954 | June 16 | Gayson Louis Kirk and Charles E. Wyzanski | Man’s Right to Knowledge and the Free Use Thereof (Kirk) |
1955 | February 12 | Oveta Culp Hobby | |
1955 | June 15 | Franklin David Murphy | |
1956 | February 11 | Earl Warren | |
1956 | June 13 | Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. | |
1957 | February 9 | George Michael Leader | |
1957 | June 12 | Frank Cyril James | |
1958 | February 8 | Willy Brandt | |
1958 | June 11 | Robert Dechert | The Export of Ideas |
1959 | June 10 | Robert Stevenson Aitken | |
1960 | February 13 | George Bogdan Kistiakowsky* | |
1961 | June 5 | Crawford Hallock Greenewalt* | |
1962 | May 21 | Clarence Douglas Dillon and Felix Houphouet-Boigny* | |
1963 | May 20 | Francis Keppel* | Reflections on an Image |
1964 | May 18 | William Warren Scranton* | |
1965 | May 24 | John Bruce* | |
1966 | May 23 | Robert Clifton Weaver* | |
1967 | May 22 | Raymond P. Shafer* | |
1968 | May 20 | William S. Paley* | |
1969 | May 19 | Barbara Ward Jackson* | |
1970 | May 18 | Martin Meyerson* | |
1971 | May 24 | David Riesman* | |
1972 | May 22 | John H. Knowles* | Virtues and Values in American Life |
1973 | May 21 | Roy Jenkins* | |
1974 | May 20 | Milton J. Shapp* | |
1975 | May 18 | Gerald R. Ford* | |
1976 | May 28 | Warren E. Burger* | What Do You Want From Your Century? |
1977 | May 22 | Hubert H. Humphrey* | |
1978 | May 22 | Patricia R. Harris* | The University and the City |
1980 | May 19 | Noel Annan* | |
1981 | May 18 | Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.* | |
1982 | May 17 | Sol M. Linowitz* | |
1983 | May 23 | Ellen H. Goodman* | |
1984 | May 21 | W. Wilson Goode* | |
1985 | May 20 | Donald T. Regan* | |
1986 | May 19 | Michael S. Brown* | |
1987 | May 18 | Riccardo Muti* | La Vita Buona |
1988 | May 16 | Patricia Schroeder* | |
1989 | May 22 | Mike Wallace* | |
1990 | May 14 | Barbara Pierce Bush* | |
1991 | May 21 | Ted Koppel* | |
1992 | May 18 | Ismail Mahomed* | |
1993 | May 17 | Hillary Rodham Clinton*^ | You Will Look for the Right Balance… |
1994 | May 19 | Henry G. Cisneros*^ | Proud to be Part of the Family |
1995 | May 22 | Jane Alexander* | |
1996 | May 21 | Tom Brokaw*^ | |
1997 | May 19 | William H. Cosby*^ | |
1998 | May 18 | Jimmy Carter*^ | The Things You Cannot See |
1999 | May 17 | Robert E. Rubin*^ | A Healthy Respect for Uncertainty |
2000 | May 22 | Seamus Heaney*^ | Transcending Boundaries |
2001 | May 21 | John McCain*^ | Confronting Challenges |
2002 | May 13 | James Lehrer*^ | Risk It |
2003 | May 19 | Desmond Tutu*^ | We All Are Family |
2004 | May 17 | Bono*^ | Because We Can, We Must |
2005 | May 16 | Kofi Annan*^ | A Future “In Larger Freedom” |
2006 | May 15 | Jodie Foster*^ | Filling your Life with your Passions |
2007 | May 14 | James A. Baker*^ | Go Forth—Be Leaders |
2008 | May 19 | Michael R. Bloomberg *^ | Sharing ‘Four Virtues to Lead By’ |
2009 | May 18 | Eric E. Schmidt*^ | The Courage to be Unreasonable |
2010 | May 17 | Jon M. Huntsman, Jr.*^ | Putting Life in Perspective |
2011 | May 16 | Denzel Washington*^ | Fall Forward |
2012 | May 14 | Geoffrey Canada*^ | The Common Good |
2013 | May 13 | Joseph R. Biden, Jr.*^ | A Chance to Write a New Chapter |
2014 | May 19 | John Legend*^ | Love Yourself, Love Your Work, Love the People Around You |
2015 | May 18 | Samantha Power*^ | Serving Community and Changing the World |
2016 | May 16 | Lin-Manuel Miranda*^ | The Stories We Tell |
2017 | May 15 | Cory A. Booker*^ | Making a World of Change for Everyone |
2018 | May 14 | Andrea Mitchell*^ | Be Curious, Open-Minded and Engaged—Never Stop Learning |
2019 | May 20 | Bryan Stevenson (address not published) | |
2020 (virtual)† | May 18 | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie*^ | |
2020 (in person)† | May 22-23, 2021 (tentative) | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie |
† Penn’s traditional commencement on campus was not possible in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Instead, there was an online celebration for the Class of 2020, and an in-person ceremony is tentatively planned for the weekend of May 22-23, 2021. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is scheduled to make an address at the in-person ceremony, and offered congratulations during the virtual celebration.