Nate Silver, editor-in-chief of statistics blog FiveThirtyEight, and Gregory Gerard Coleman (GSB ’76), president of BuzzFeed, are among the 12 speakers scheduled to address graduates at this year’s commencement ceremonies from May 18 to 21, the university announced today.
The university will hold separate graduation ceremonies for each school, beginning with the McCourt School of Public Policy on May 18 and ending with the Law Center’s ceremony May 21.
University President John J. DeGioia wrote in a statement on the Georgetown website he looks forward to the wisdom these speakers have to impart upon the Class of 2017.
“Commencement is one of the most special moments for our university community each year,” DeGioia wrote. “We are honored to welcome a number of distinguished individuals to our campus this May and we look forward to the ways in which their insights will challenge and inspire each of our graduates as they prepare to leave our Hilltop and make an impact on our world.”
Silver, who will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the university, is scheduled to speak at the School of Continuing Studies commencement ceremony May 19. A statistician and writer best known for analyzing sports and elections, Silver was named one of The World’s 100 Most Influential People by Time in 2009 after he successfully called the outcomes of the 2008 U.S. presidential election in 49 of the 50 states.
Coleman will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the university and is scheduled to address the McDonough School of Business undergraduate commencement ceremony May 20. Coleman was appointed president of BuzzFeed in 2014, after serving as president of The Huffington Post until 2011 and Criteo, a digital marketing company, until 2014.
Coleman received his MBA from New York University, where he currently works as an adjunct professor on digital marketing in the Stern School of Business.
Additional commencement speakers include Sr. Mary Scullion, R.S.M., executive director and president of Project HOME, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and services to chronically homeless men and women, who will address the College on May 20; James H. Shelton III, president of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Chan Zuckerberg Education and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, who will address the School of Nursing and Health Studies on May 20; and Washington Post columnist and London School of Economics visiting professor of practice Anne Applebaum, who will address the School of Foreign Service on May 20.
All of the commencement ceremonies will be available for livestreaming at the university commencement website.