Graduation Speakers (1957-2008)
"Party on, Demon Deacons, party on," were Secretary of State Colin Powell's memorable words of advice in 2004. A former First Lady, U.S. Senators, Governors, business leaders, a Cardinal and a cartoonist are among the speakers who have shared their wit and wisdom with graduates since the move to the new campus.
| 2008 | Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. (video) | |
| 2007 | New York Times columnist David Brooks (remarks) | |
| 2006 | Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner (remarks) | |
| 2005 | Professional Golfer Arnold Palmer ('51) (remarks) | |
| 2004 | Secretary of State Colin Powell (remarks) | |
| 2003 | New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (remarks) | |
| 2002 | U.S. Senator John McCain (remarks) | |
| 2001 | Former First Lady Barbara Bush (remarks) | |
| 2000 | Cisco CEO John Chambers (remarks) | |
| 1999 | Cardinal Francis Arinze (remarks) | |
| 1998 | White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles (remarks) | |
| 1997 | IBM CEO Lou Gerstner (remarks) | |
| 1996 | U.S. Senator Sam Nunn (remarks) | |
| 1995 | CNN News Anchor Judy Woodruff | |
| 1994 | Former Congressman Jack Kemp | |
| 1993 | Notre Dame President Emeritus Theodore Hesburgh | |
| 1992 | Novelist Tom Clancy | |
| 1991 | Virginia Governor Doug Wilder | |
| 1990 | Millard Fuller, Founder, Habitat for Humanity International | |
| 1989 | Benjamin Bradlee, Executive Editor, The Washington Post | |
| 1988 | PepsiCo CEO Wayne Calloway ('59) | |
| 1987 | North Carolina Governor James G. Martin | |
| 1986 | Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau | |
| 1985 | Reynolds Professor and Poet Maya Angelou | |
| 1984 | Bill Moyers, CBS News, Senior News Analyst | |
| 1983 | John William Gilbert, Member, British Parliament | |
| 1982 | Harris Llewellyn Wofford, Retired President, Bryn Mawr College | |
| 1981 | William Hampton Wagoner ('49), Chancellor, UNC-Wilmington | |
| 1980 | Merrimon Cuninggim, Retired president, Salem College | |
| 1979 | Peter Jay, British ambassador to the United States | |
| 1978 | Shearon Harris ('36, JD '38), Chairman, Carolina Power & Light Company | |
| 1977 | U.S. Representative Frank Thompson | |
| 1976 | Harry M. Philpott, President, Auburn University | |
| 1975 | U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan (D-Texas) | |
| 1974 | Alvin M. Weinberg, Director, Office of Energy Research and Development, and Former Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
| 1973 | Wallace Carroll, Publisher, Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel | |
| 1972 | U.S. Representative Gerald R. Ford (R-Mich.) | |
| 1971 | Robert E.R. Huntley, President, Washington and Lee | |
| 1970 | Bill Moyers, Former Publisher, Newsday | |
| 1969 | President James Ralph Scales | |
| 1968 | J. Ollie Edmunds, Chancellor, Stetson University | |
| 1967 | Retiring President Harold W. Tribble | |
| 1966 | Vittorio Giannini, President, N.C. School of the Arts | |
| 1965 | Former N.C. Governor Terry Sanford | |
| 1964 | Edgar F. Shannon, President, University of Virginia | |
| 1963 | Luther H. Hodges, N.C. Secretary of Commerce | |
| 1962 | Liston Pope, Dean of the Divinity School, Yale University | |
| 1961 | Josef Nordenhaug, General Secretary, Baptist World Alliance | |
| 1960 | Lam Chi-Fung, President, Hong Kong Baptist College | |
| 1959 | Frances P. Gaines, President, Washington and Lee College and former president, Wake Forest College (1927-1930) | |
| 1958 | Kenneth I. Brown, Executive Director, Danforth Foundation | |
| 1957 | Gordon Gray, Director, Office of Defense Mobilization |
— Kerry M. King ('85)
Office of Creative Services
