{"id":34872,"date":"2024-01-09T18:47:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T18:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/?page_id=34872"},"modified":"2026-05-18T00:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T00:34:18","slug":"speakers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-34872","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"lead_in":"Celebrating voices of inspiration","display_title":"Commencement speakers","subtitle":"From world leaders to groundbreaking scholars, journalists, and innovators, the University of Rochester has welcomed distinguished speakers to the Commencement stage. 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Georgiadis<\/strong>","card_text":"Chief Executive Officer, Ancestry","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"Margaret Georgiadis","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/speakers\/margaret-georgiadis\/","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"hover_arrow","card_image":35082,"card_image_size":"image_full","card_image_placement":"image_above","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"<p class=\"u-text-overline\">2017 Commencement speaker<\/p>\r\n<strong>Jimmie V. Reyna \u201975<\/strong>","card_text":"Federal Circuit Court Judge","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"Jimmie V. Reyna \u201975","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/speakers\/jimmie-v-reyna-75\/","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"hover_arrow","card_image":35072,"card_image_size":"image_full","card_image_placement":"image_above","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"<p class=\"u-text-overline\">2016 Commencement speaker<\/p>\r\n<strong>Erica Fee \u201999<\/strong>","card_text":"Theatre and Festival Producer","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"Erica Fee \u201999","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/speakers\/erica-fee-99\/","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"hover_arrow","card_image":35062,"card_image_size":"image_full","card_image_placement":"image_above","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"<p class=\"u-text-overline\">2015 Commencement speaker<\/p>\r\n<strong>Deborah Bial<\/strong>","card_text":"Founder and President of The Posse Foundation","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/posse-foundation-founder-and-president-to-deliver-the-2015-college-commencement-address\/","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"hover_arrow","card_image":35552,"card_image_size":"image_full","card_image_placement":"image_above","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"<p class=\"u-text-overline\">2014 Commencement speaker<\/p>\r\n<strong>Chris Matthews<\/strong>","card_text":"Political News Commentator","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/chris-matthews-to-give-commencement-address\/","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"hover_arrow","card_image":35542,"card_image_size":"image_full","card_image_placement":"image_above","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"<p class=\"u-text-overline\">2013 Commencement speaker<\/p>\r\n<strong>Steven Chu<\/strong>","card_text":"Nobel Prize-winning Physicist","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/steven-chu-to-address-college-commencement\/","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"hover_arrow","card_image":35522,"card_image_size":"image_full","card_image_placement":"image_above","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"<p class=\"u-text-overline\">2012 Commencement speaker<\/p>\r\n<strong>Ruth Simmons<\/strong>","card_text":"President of Brown University","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"Ruth Simmons","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/speakers\/ruth-simmons\/","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"hover_arrow","card_image":35512,"card_image_size":"image_full","card_image_placement":"image_above","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"<p class=\"u-text-overline\">2011 Commencement speaker<\/p>\r\n<strong>Ursula M. Burns<\/strong>","card_text":"Chief Executive Officer,\u00a0Xerox","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"Ursula M. Burns","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/speakers\/ursula-m-burns\/","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"hover_arrow","card_image":35502,"card_image_size":"image_full","card_image_placement":"image_above","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"<p class=\"u-text-overline\">2010 Commencement speaker<\/p>\r\n<strong>Daniel R. Wegman<\/strong>","card_text":"Chief Executive Officer,\u00a0Wegmans","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"Daniel R. 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