Speakers & Honorees | Commencement

As is tradition, Boston University President Ad Interim Kenneth W. Freeman announced the names of this year’s Commencement Speaker, Baccalaureate Speaker, and those who will receive honorary degrees during the annual Senior Breakfast on May 2.

David Grann, acclaimed historical nonfiction author and award-winning journalist at The New Yorker magazine, will deliver Boston University’s 151st Commencement Address during the ceremony. Dr. Walter Earl Fluker, the Martin Luther King, Jr. professor emeritus of ethical leadership in the School of Theology, will deliver the Baccalaureate Address earlier in the day at Marsh Chapel. Both will be awarded honorary degrees during the Commencement ceremony.

Those also receiving honorary degrees are: Kenneth Feld, CEO of Feld Entertainment, BU trustee emeritus and philanthropist; and Claudia Goldin, the Harvard University Henry Lee Professor of Economics and the 2023 recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economics in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

The recipients of the Metcalf Cup & Prize and Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching were also announced during the breakfast.