{"id":46892,"date":"2025-02-10T12:45:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T12:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/?page_id=46892"},"modified":"2025-05-18T19:31:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T19:31:08","slug":"tommy-evans-99","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/commencement\/speakers\/tommy-evans-99\/","title":{"rendered":"Tommy Evans \u201999"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":34872,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-46892","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"lead_in":"2025 Commencement Speaker","display_title":"Tommy Evans \u201999 ","subtitle":"Acclaimed NPR editor and Rochester alumnus Tommy Evans \u201999 returned to campus to speak to the Class of 2025 at the University Commencement Ceremony on May 16.","call_to_action":"","hero_image_placement":"right_image","hero_media":"images","hero_pattern_option":"","hero_video":"","hero_image_landing":49992,"hero_image_landing_two":"","hero_image_landing_three":"","content_modules":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"pt-0","title":"

Journalist Tommy Evans \u201999 delivers the 2025 Commencement address<\/h2>","content":"Alumnus Thomas (Tommy) Evans \u201999, National Public Radio\u2019s Managing Editor for Editorial Review, delivered the 2025 address at the University-wide Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 16.\r\n\r\n\u201cI am very excited to have Tommy Evans return to campus as our 2025 Commencement speaker,\" said University President Sarah Mangelsdorf. \u201cWith a degree from Rochester, a strong work ethic, and an ever-curious mind, he has worked all over the world to shape the reporting of the most significant national and global news stories of our time. I look forward to our graduates hearing from a leader who is achieving such success.\u201d\r\n\r\nAs managing editor, Evans is responsible for ensuring NPR maintains and strengthens its status as a trusted source of news and information for the American public. He and his staff of senior editors give all NPR news content a final editorial review before it goes on air or online, working to showcase NPR's nuanced approach to journalism as rigorous and wide-ranging in its subject matter.\r\n\r\nPrior to NPR, Evans was CNN's vice president of international newsgathering and London bureau chief, overseeing investigative and enterprise newsgathering outside the United States and Canada. He was responsible for all CNN output from Europe, the Middle East and Africa and oversaw all CNN bureaus in these regions, as well as special projects out of Asia Pacific. He was also responsible for the cyber security and physical security for all CNN staff outside the United States. Evans led CNN\u2019s coverage of several major news events of the recent years, including the Taliban\u2019s return to power in Afghanistan, the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, the numerous terror attacks across Europe, the war in Ukraine, the European refugee crisis and the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.\r\n\r\nHe started at CNN as a producer for AC360 with Anderson Cooper and has also headed up the network\u2019s Baghdad and Kabul bureaus. Prior to becoming the London bureau chief, Evans was CNN International\u2019s Senior Director of Coverage for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.\r\n\r\nEvans has received numerous honors throughout his career, including multiple Emmy Awards; Edward R. Murrow, DuPont, and Peabody awards; and a Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for war correspondents.\r\n\r\nAs a double major, Evans earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science and studio arts from Rochester. He went on to receive a master\u2019s degree in international politics from London\u2019s School for Oriental and African Studies.\r\n

Watch a recording of the 2025 Commencement address<\/h2>\r\n