2011 Celebrity Commencement Speakers

As we draw near to the end of the academic year and graduation approaches, many colleges have already announced the keynote speakers for commencement. Many colleges and universities invite successful alumni to give the graduation address, others simply pick notable and inspiring individuals to give matriculating students a few words of wisdom.
We’ve rounded up some some of the notable 2011 commencement speakers from around the country. We’ll be updating this list as more speakers are announced.
George Washington University – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Hamilton College – Former Vice President Al Gore
Harvard University – Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Miami-Dade College – President Barack Obama
National-Louis University – Mayor-Elect of Chicago Rahm Emanuel
New York University – Former President Bill Clinton
Northwestern University – Comedian Stephen Colbert
Princeton University – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Sarah Lawrence College – Arianna Huffington
Spelman College – First Lady Michelle Obama
Syracuse University – Biologist J. Craig Venter
Syracuse University iSchool Convocation – Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley
Three Rivers College – Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee
U. S. Coast Guard Academy – President Barack Obama
U.S. Military Academy – First Lady Michelle Obama
University of Northern Iowa – First Lady Michelle Obama
University of the Pacific – Vicente Fox-former president of Mexico
University of Pennsylvania – Actor Denzel Washington
University of Rochester – Chairman and CEO of Xerox Ursula M. Burns
Some colleges also celebrate graduating seniors with Class Day. Brooke Shields will be speaking at Princeton University’s Class Day and Tom Hanks will be giving the address at Yale University’s Class day.
The President of the United States typically gives commencement addresses at one private college, one public university and one military academy.