Gray Davis or Brent Scowcroft Could Be Speaking at Your Graduation

But only if you’re in the Law School or SIPA. Columbia’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs announced the complete list of Class Speakers today, and joining Attorney General Eric Holder are many other famous names to prop up the 22 various Class Day and Commencement ceremonies taking place between this Saturday (the B-School) and next Thursday (Law School and Dental School).

Among the big names: former California governor Gray Davis at the Law School graduation, former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft at SIPA’s Commencement, Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall at the J-School’s Class Day, New York Times medical correspondent Lawrence Altman at the Med School graduation, and senior advisor to Hillary Clinton Phillipe Reines at General Studies’s Class Day. Of course, some of the speechifying talent isn’t travelling very far: professors Jagdish Baghwati and Jeffrey Sachs will be speaking at the Ph.D. convocation and the Dental School graduation ceremonies, respectively.

Our favorite detail, though? Both J-School ceremonies are “closed to the media.” Full list after the jump.


Saturday, May 16

Business School Executive M.B.A. Recognition Ceremony

Speaker: Bruce Greenwald, the Robert Heilbrunn Professor of Finance and Asset Management and director of the Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing

10 a.m., Roone Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall, Morningside Heights campus

Sunday, May 17

Business School M.B.A. Recognition Ceremony

Speaker: Robert Friedman, chairman and CEO of Radical Media

3 p.m., South Lawn, Morningside Heights campus

Monday, May 18

The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science Class Day

Speaker: James Albaugh, executive vice president of The Boeing Company

9:30 a.m., South Lawn, Morningside Heights campus

School of International and Public Affairs Commencement

Speaker: Brent Scowcroft, former U.S. national security adviser

2 p.m., Riverside Church, 440 Riverside Dr.

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Ph.D. Convocation 1

Speaker: Jeffrey Henig, professor of political science and education

3:30 p.m., St. Paul’s Chapel, Morningside Heights campus

School of General Studies Class Day

Speaker: Philippe Reines, senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

5 p.m., South Lawn, Morningside Heights campus

Tuesday, May 19

Columbia College Class Day

Speaker: Eric Holder, U.S. attorney general

9:30 a.m., South Lawn, Morningside Heights campus

Graduate School of Journalism Day  (Closed to media)

Speaker: Joshua Micah Marshall, founder of Talking Points Memo

10 a.m., Miller Theatre, Morningside Heights campus

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences M.A. Convocation

Speaker: Anne Higonnet, professor of art history and archaeology

10:30 a.m., Roone Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall, Morningside Heights campus

Doctor of Physical Therapy Graduation

Speaker: Alma Merians, professor and chair of the Department of Developmental and Rehabilitative Sciences at the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

1:30 p.m., Alumni Auditorium, Columbia University Medical Center

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Ph.D. Convocation 2

Speaker: Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor and senior fellow in international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations

3:30 p.m., St. Paul’s Chapel, Morningside Heights campus

Mailman School of Public Health Graduation

Speaker: Paul Farmer, the Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and founding director of Partners in Health

3:30 p.m., New Balance Track & Field Arena, 216 Fort Washington Ave., at 168th Street

School of Continuing Education Class Day  (Closed to media)

Speaker: Rita Charon, professor of clinical medicine and director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons

5 p.m., Roone Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall, Morningside Heights campus

Wednesday, May 20

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Professional Degree Commencement   (Closed to media)

Speaker: Mark Wigley, dean of the architecture school

12:15 p.m. (second professional degree); 2:15 p.m. (first professional degree), St. Paul’s Chapel, Morningside Heights campus

Occupational Therapy Commencement/Convocation and Awards Ceremony

Speaker: Penelope Moyers Cleveland, president of the American Occupational Therapy Association

1:30 p.m., Alumni Auditorium, Columbia University Medical Center

College of Physicians and Surgeons Commencement

Speaker: Lawrence K. Altman, chief medical correspondent for The New York Times

2 p.m., New Balance Track & Field Arena, 216 Fort Washington Ave., at 168th Street

School of the Arts Presentation of Diplomas  (Closed to media)

Speaker: Jerry Saltz, art critic and columnist for New York magazine

2 p.m., Miller Theatre, Morningside Heights campus

School of Nursing Graduation

Speakers: Donna Shalala, president of the University of Miami; and Phyllis Farley, founder of Doulas to Accompany the Dying

2:30 p.m., New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues

School of Social Work Graduation

Speaker: Diane Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, the national leadership forum for America’s nonprofit organizations, foundations and corporations

3 p.m., Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway, at 74th Street

Graduate School of Journalism Commencement  (Closed to media)

Speaker: Alejandro Junco de la Vega, Mexican newspaper pioneer and publisher of Grupo Reforma

3 p.m., Roone Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall, Morningside Heights campus

Thursday, May 21

College of Dental Medicine Graduation

Speaker: Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia’s Earth Institute and Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development

10:30 a.m., New Balance Track & Field Arena, 216 Fort Washington Ave., at 168th Street

Law School Graduation

Speaker: Gray Davis, former governor of California

1 p.m., South Lawn, Morningside Heights campus


  • Donna ShalalaPosted from campus

    My heart goes Shalalala!
    Shalala in the morrrning.

  • 2 thingsPosted from campus

    1. Why would Jeff Sachs speak at the Dental School graduation? That seems completely unrelated…

    2. Bwog how do you forget to mention Paul Farmer in your list of speakers before the jump? I guess the daily editor isn’t up on public health.

  • alsoPosted from campus

    when/where is Barnard class day?

  • anddddPosted from campus

    Barnard College Graduation
    Speaker: *Hillary Clinton*
    1:30 p.m., South Lawn, Morningside Heights Campus

  • BC graduationPosted from campus

    barnard’s is on Monday

  • attendancePosted from campus

    all of the class day speaker events are open to the CU public, regardless of school affiliation, right?

  • BrentPosted from campus

    Scowcroft kicks ass.

  • ehh

    gray davis sucks wasn’t he almost impeached or something?

  • Ho Hum?Posted from campus

    That’s a Barnard Class!

  • Alum

    Thanks for posting this, Bwog.

    Will there also be a post about the Teachers College speaker(s)?

  • califorianPosted from campus

    why would you let gray davis speak! not someone I would want to aspire to be. i still remember the rolling blackouts

  • pissed GSerPosted from campus

    Philippe Reines is apparently a giant douchesack (and a former staffer of forty-megaton hypocrite Jane Harman). What, did they just call HRC’s office to see which flacks she was bringing with her, and then just peeled one off?

    • Haha.

      And the GS speaker is… the secretary of the Barnard speaker… That is no doubt an insult to your school. How many times will Columbia feature Brent Scowcroft in graduation ceremonies, by the way, before they get enough?

  • Disappointed M.A. Student

    Does anyone even know who Anne Higonnet is? I was hoping for someone slightly – slightly – more illustrious.

  • heh heh hehPosted from campus

    weep, graduates, weep.

  • Alum

    Hey, hey, Shalala
    Hey, hey, Shalala
    Who’s gonna ride your wild horses?
    Who’s gonna drown in your blue sea?
    Who’s gonna ride your wild horses?
    Who’s gonna fall at the foot of thee?

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