University Commencement Speakers (1959 to 2006)

The following individuals delivered the University Commencement address at Virginia Tech (dating back to 1959):

2006: Timothy M. Kaine, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia (spring); Paul Antonie "Tony" Distler, Alumni Distinguished Professor and director of the Division of Performing Arts, Virginia Tech (fall). Henry J. Dekker, founder and president of the North American operations of French couturier Louis Féraud.

2005: David Calhoun, president and CEO of GE Transportation Systems(spring); Minnis E. Ridenour, former executive vice president and chief operating officer at Virginia Tech and Senior Fellow and director of the Office of Government and Non-Profit Organization Management, Virginia Tech (fall).

2004: Pierre Thomas, ABC News U.S. Justice Department correspondent and 1984 graduate of Virginia Tech (spring); Dr. Diane Zahm, associate professor of urban affairs and planning in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, Virginia Tech (fall).

2003: The Hon. Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr., chief justice, Virginia Supreme Court (spring); Dr. Ezra A. "Bud" Brown, professor of mathematics, Virginia Tech (fall).

2002: Mark R. Warner, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia (spring); Dr. L.A. "Andy" Swiger, dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Tech (fall).

2001: The Hon. Rick Boucher, congressman, U.S. House of Representatives (spring); Dr. Charles J. Dudley, professor of sociology and director of the University Honors Program, Virginia Tech (fall).

2000: The Hon. John W. Warner, senator, Commonwealth of Virginia (spring); Arthur L. Buikema Jr., Alumni Distinguished Professor, Department of Biology, Virginia Tech (fall).

1999: Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive officer, Novell Inc. (spring); Paul E. Torgersen, president, Virginia Tech, and John W. Hancock Jr., Chair of Engineering (fall).

1998: James S. Gilmore III, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia (spring); James R. Craig, professor of geological sciences, Virginia Tech (fall).

1997: Raymond J. Lane, president and chief operating officer, Oracle Corporation (spring); Charles "Jack" Dudley, director, University Honors Program, Virginia Tech (fall).

1996: John Wilson, retired president, Washington and Lee University (spring); Lucinda Roy, Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies, Virginia Tech (fall).

1995: Beverly H. Sgro, secretary of education, Commonwealth of Virginia (spring); James I. "Bud" Robertson Jr., Alumni Distinguished Professor of History, Virginia Tech (fall).

1994: George F. Allen, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia (spring); Paul Antonie "Tony" Distler, Alumni Distinguished Professor and director of the Division of Performing Arts, Virginia Tech (fall).

1993: John M. Ashworth, director, London School of Economics and Political Science (spring); John Kelly, registrar (provost), University College Dublin (Ireland) (fall).

1992: Jack Nelson, Washington Bureau chief, Los Angeles Times (spring); Samuel D. Proctor, professor emeritus, Rutgers University and pastor emeritus, Abyssinian Baptist Church of New York (fall).

1991: Shaikh Saud Nasir Al-Sabah, ambassador to Kuwait (spring); W. Ann Reynolds, chancellor, City University of New York (fall).

1990: L. Douglas Wilder, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia (spring); Mark O. Hatfield, U.S. senator (fall).

1989: Mary Sue Terry, attorney general, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1988: David Roselle, president, University of Kentucky.

1987: Gerald Baliles, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1986: Neil Armstrong, astronaut.

1985: Alexander F. Giacco, rector, Virginia Tech Board of Visitors and chairman of the board, Hercules Inc.

1984: Charles Robb, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1983: Clifton C. Garvin, Jr., chairman of the board, Exxon Corp. (and Virginia Tech alumnus).

1982: Christopher C. Kraft Jr., director, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (and Virginia Tech alumnus).

1981: William E. Lavery, president, Virginia Tech.

1980: Jean Harris, secretary of human resources, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1979: Eric Severied, CBS News Correspondent.

1978: John N. Dalton, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1977: Milton Friedman, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in economics.

1976: E. F. Shannon, former president, University of Virginia.

1975: Sam J. Ervin, former N.C. senator.

1974: G. Burke Johnston, C. P. Miles Professor of English, Virginia Tech.

1973: Bill Moyers, former press secretary to President L. B. Johnson.

1972: David Brinkley, NBC news correspondent.

1971: Linwood Holton, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1970: T. Marshall Hahn, president, Virginia Tech.

1969: Warren W. Brandt, first president of Virginia Commonwealth University and former executive vice president, Virginia Tech.

1968: T. Marshall Hahn, president, Virginia Tech.

1967: Mills E. Godwin, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1966: T. Marshall Hahn, president, Virginia Tech.

1965: Albertis S. Harrison, governor, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1964: J. G. Farrar, president, Rockefeller Foundation.

1963: Mills E. Goodwin, lieutenant governor, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1962: Colgate W. Darden, former governor, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1961: John M. Devine, commandant of cadets, Virginia Tech.

1960: Albertis S. Harrison, attorney general, Commonwealth of Virginia.

1959: John N. Thomas, professor of systematic theology, Union Theological Seminary.