John Hennessy and Paul Tash will speak at IU-Bloomington’s commencement ceremonies, according to a March 15 press release.
Hennessy is the executive chairman of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and Tash is the Tampa Bay Times and Times Publishing Co. chairman and CEO.
IU announced the speakers and 15 honorary degree recipients for its campuses’ commencement ceremonies last Wednesday. The list includes authors, journalists and businessmen.
"As we celebrate the academic achievements of students across all of our campuses this May," IU President Michael McRobbie said in the release, "we are honored to also award a number of honorary degrees to highly accomplished leaders in Indiana and across the country who have served their organizations and communities with great distinction."
Hennessy will speak at the May 4 graduate commencement ceremony. He will also receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Hennessy is a president emeritus of Stanford University. He worked to improve and transform Stanford’s arts and humanities programs, visual and performing arts programs and public service programs, according to the release.
The ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. No tickets are required, and there are no reserved seats.
Tash will speak at the May 5 undergraduate ceremony. Tash graduated from IU and started working at the St. Petersburg Times in 1975. He went on to work as a reporter, city editor, Washington bureau chief and executive editor.
The ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at Memorial Stadium. No tickets are required, and there are no reserved seats.
The University will also award honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees to Sidney and Lois Eskenazi, known for their philanthropy supporting organizations and the Eskenazi Museum of Art on campus; Stephen Ferguson, chairman of the board of Cook Group Incorporated; Amos Sawyer, former president of the Interim Government of National Unity in Liberia; and Will Shortz, crossword editor for the New York Times.
"From civic leaders and philanthropists to business leaders and community advocates, our commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients represent many of the traits we admire and hope to instill in our students,” McRobbie said in the release.
Laurel Demkovich
