Commencement Programs

The first graduating class was in 1840. Commencement ceremonies have taken place at many different locations including East College, the Lilly Center, Bowman Gym, Blackstock Stadium, the East College lawn and now, in front of the Roy O. West Library. The first woman commencement speaker was Anna Downey in 1880. The following is a list of the commencement speakers from 1840-2018. In some years we do not know the commencement speaker since no program has survived. Commencement Speakers: (Alumni class years, when known, are in parentheses) 1840 No Program (NP) 1841 NP 1842 NP 1843 NP 1844 William Clark Larrabee, Professor 1845 Benjamin F. Tefft, Professor 1846 Matthew Simpson, President 1847 NP 1848 NP 1849 William Clark Larrabee, Professor 1850 Lucien W. Berry, President 1851 John W. Ray (1848) Jeffersonville 1852 William H. Dixon (1849) Jeffersonville 1853 Lucien W. Berry, President 1854 NP 1855 Milford B. Rudisill (1852) 1856 NP 1857 NP 1858 Benjamin W. Smith (1855), Manchester 1859 William R. Goodwin (1856) 1860 no speaker 1861 NP 1862 NP 1863 NP 1864 NP 1865 John N. Holloway (1862) LaPorte 1866 William M. Hoggatt (1863) Paoli 1867 George W. Griffin (1864) Connersville 1868 David Gilbert Hamilton (1866) Chicago 1869 NP 1870 John Overmyer (1867) Vernon 1871 Simpson F. Lockridge (1868) Greencastle 1872 Harry H. Whitcomb (1869) 1873 Hillary A. Gobin (1870) Remington 1874 John W. Lacey (1871) Noblesville 1875 Henry Augustus Buchtel (1872) Greencastle 1876 no speaker 1877 John Brewer DeMotte (1874) Professor 1878 Charles A. Dryer (1875) Indianapolis 1879 NP 1880 Anna Downey (1877) Chicago 1881 Chauncey R. Hammond (1878) Greencastle 1882 Newland T. DePauw (1879) New Albany 1883 Charles A. Martin (1880) Greencastle 1884 Charles E. Finney (1881) Indianapolis 1885 James W. Emison (1882) Bruceville, Ind. 1886 Lerria Tarbell (1883) Providence, R.I. 1887 William F. Switzer (1884) Covington 1888 Charles Henry McAnney (1885) Long Branch, N.J. 1889 Harry L. Beals (1886) Greencastle 1890 Thomas Bowman 1891 William Dudley Foulke, Richmond, Ind. 1892 James Harlan, Mount Pleasant, Ia. 1893 C. H. Fowler, Minneapolis 1894 Henry Watterson, Louisville 1895 NP 1896 NP 1897 NP 1898 Daniel Dorchester, Pittsburgh 1899 Wallace Bruce, Brooklyn 1900 Charles Bliss Galloway, Jackson, Miss. 1901 Frank W. Gunsaulus, Chicago 1902 William Fraser McDowell, New York 1903 Richard T. Ely, University of Wisconsin 1904 [Francis] Frank J. McConnell, Brooklyn 1905 Richard G. Moul, Chicago 1906 William A. Quayle, Chicago 1907 James Ely Watson (1886) 1908 William Fraser McDowell 1909 S. Parkes Cadman, Brooklyn 1910 George Herbert Palmer, Harvard University 1911 George Edgar Vincent, University of Minnesota 1912 Caleb Thomas Winchester, Wesleyan University 1913 Francis J. McConnell 1914 Charles Franklin Thwing 1915 William A. Quayle 1916 S. Parkes Cadman 1917 Richard Yates 1918 Albert J. Beveridge (1885) 1919 Edwin Holt Hughes 1920 William Fraser McDowell 1921 Leslie Mortier Shaw 1922 George Edgar Vincent 1923 Glenn Frank 1924 Edwin Holt Hughes 1925 Ernest Fremont Tittle 1926 Lynn Harold Hough 1927 Simeon D. Fess 1928 Francis Calvin Tilden 1929 Henry Hitt Crane 1930 Edwin Holt Hughes 1931 Ralph W. Sockman 1932 James Herbert Wilkerson 1933 Francis J. McConnell 1934 Ernest Fremont Tittle 1935 Paul Vories McNutt 1936 Harold J. Stonier 1937 G. Bromley Oxnam 1938 Ralph W. Sockman 1939 Charles W. Gilkey 1940 Herbert Agar 1941 Walter Albert Jessup 1942 Niles Trammell 1943 Leverett Saltonstall 1944 Florence E. Allen 1945 Halford Edward Luccock 1946 Francis J. McConnell (4x) 1947 Edwin Holt Hughes (4x) 1948 Umphrey Lee 1949 Richard C. Raines 1950 Robert DuBois Workman 1951 Howard Cotterill Sheperd 1952 Homer Price Rainey 1953 Wayne Andrew Johnston 1954 Paul Gray Hoffman 1955 Howard Foster Lowry 1956 Ralph Johnson Bunche 1957 Thomas J. Watson 1958 Harold Macmillan 1959 John Andrew Barr 1960 John George Diefenbaker 1961 Thomas Hale Hamilton 1962 Lee Alvin DuBridge 1963 Elvis J. Stahr, Jr. 1964 John W. Oswald 1965 John Theodore McNaughton 1966 Thomas Clifton Mann 1967 John Steven Watson 1968 John D. Millett 1969 Merrimon Cuninggim 1970 David E. Lilienthal (1920) 1971 Harry Andrew Blackmun 1972 Richard G. Lugar 1973 Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. (1957) 1974 William F. Kerby 1975 John H. Filer 1976 Thomas A. Murphy 1977 Pauline Frederick Robbins 1978 John Brademas 1979 John R. Opel 1980 Ralph T. Alton 1981 James E. Olson 1982 James Danforth Quayle (1969) 1983 John W. Ryan 1984 Jill and William Ruckelshaus 1985 Robert L. Payton 1986 Philip and Marilyn Sharp 1987 Howard K. Smith 1988 Otis R. Bowen 1989 James B. Stewart, Jr. (1973) 1990 James T. Laney 1991 James K. Baker (1953) 1992 Daniel J. Boorstin 1993 Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. (1957) 1994 Barbara Kingsolver (1977) 1995 John W. Jakes (1953) 1996 Cornel West 1997 Paul B. Kissinger 1998 Lee H. Hamilton (1952) 1999 Judson C. Green (1974) 2000 Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee 2001 Morris Dees 2002 Elaine L. Chao 2003 John F. McWethy (1969) 2004 Nick Mourouzis 2005 Eric Schlosser 2006 Evan Bayh 2007 Karen Koning AbuZayd 2008 Deborah Bial 2009 John Dittmer 2010 Wallace J. Nicols, III 2011 Theodore “Tim” M. Solso (1969) 2012 James B. Stewart, Jr. (1973) 2013 Elisa Villanueva Beard (1998) 2014 Kal Penn 2015 Ruth J. Simmons 2016 Tavis Smiley 2017 James C. Alling (1973) 2018 Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. (1957)