Speaker

Information on UNE's 2024 Commencement Speaker is coming soon.

• 2023: Ronald A. Crutcher, D.M.A., president emeritus of Wheaton College and the University of Richmond, national leader in higher education, distinguished classical musician
• 2022: Jonathan Haidt, Ph.D., social psychologist at New York University's Stern School of Business
• 2021: Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D., director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• 2019: Honorable Janet T. Mills, Governor of Maine
• 2018: Catherine A. Sanderson, Ph.D., Manwell Family Professor of Life Sciences (Psychology), Amherst College
• 2017: Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
• 2016: Dr. Robert Michael Franklin, Jr., James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor of Moral Leadership at Emory University, Director of the Religion Department of the Chautauqua Institution
• 2015: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, President/CEO, Goodwill Industries of Northern New England 
• 2014: Gregory W. Powell, J.D., CEO/President of Dexter Enterprises, Inc, & Chairman of the Harold Alfond Foundation
• 2013: Honorable Angus King (I), U.S. Senator, Maine
• 2012: Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D)
• 2011: Congressman Michael Michaud (D)
• 2010: Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., President of the Institute of Medicine
• 2009: Rita Colwell, Ph.D., Nationally-respected Scientist and Educator
• 2008: John McKernan, Former Governor of Maine
• 2007: Robert Shetterly, Maine Artist and Author
• 2006: Joan Benoit Samuelson, Olympic Gold Medalist
• 2005: Olympia J. Snowe, United States Senator, Maine
• 2004: Henry L. P. Schmelzer, President and CEO Maine Community Foundation
• 2003: Henry L. P. Schmelzer, President and CEO Maine Community Foundation
• 2002: Daniel Wathen, Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court
• 2001: Congressman Tom Allen, U.S. Congressman, Maine
• 2000: Robert McAfee, Former President of the American Medical Association, UNE Board of Trustees member
• 1999: Susan Collins, U.S. Senator, Maine
• 1998: Richard MacPherson
• 1997: Marvin Wachman, Ph.D.
• 1996: Olympia Snowe, U.S. Senator, Maine 
• 1995: Judith Isaacson
• 1994: Rev. John Brooks
• 1993: Thomas Andrews
• 1992: Dorothy Cotton
• 1991: Marie Gadsden, Ph.D.
• 1990: George Mitchell 
• 1989: Andrew McGuire
• 1988: Dr. David Matthews
• 1987: Dodge Morgan
• 1986: Douglas Edwards
• 1985: Assoc. Justice Caroline D. Glassman, Maine Supreme Judicial Court
• 1984: Honorable Joseph E. Brennan, Governor of Maine
• 1983: Arthur Elliott Levine, Ph.D., President, Bradford College (Bradford, MA)
• 1982: James Russell Wiggins, Editor and Publisher, Ellsworth American
• 1981: Honorable William S. Cohen, U.S. Senator, Maine
• 1980: William J. Caldwell, Columnist, Portland Press Herald & Maine Sunday Telegram
• 1979: F. Stephen Larrabee, Ph.D., National Security Council
• 1978: Benjamin M. Ziegler, Ph.D., Educator, Amherst College
• 1977: Honorable Sherry Huber
• 1976: Dr. Elsa M. Meder
• 1975: Dr. Scott Nearing, Economist, Farmer, and Author
• 1974: Reverend Paul C. Reinert, President, St. Louis University
• 1973: Dr. Kenneth E. Eble
• 1972: Dr. Richard Weigle, President, Saint John’s College (Annapolis, Maryland)
• 1971: The Honorable Kenneth M. Curtis
• 1970: The Honorable James L. Farmer, A.B., B.D., Assistant Secretrary, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
• 1969: The Honorable Frank Licht A.B., and L.L.D., Governor of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation
• 1968: Mr. Edwin D. Canham, Editor-in-Chief, Christian Science Monitor
• 1967: Dr. Donald M. MacKenzie, President, Park College (Parkville, Missouri)
• 1966: Rev. Bernard Haring, Department of Religious Studies, Brown University
• 1965: His Excellency The Most Reverand Ernest Primeau, Bishop of Manchester
• 1964: Dr. John W. McDeVitt, Supreme Knight, Knights of Columbus
• 1963: Dr. Philip Lambert
• 1962: Father Juvenal Lawlor
• 1961: Rev. Edward V. Stanford
• 1960: Reverend Msgr. Robert J. White
• 1959: Mr. William B. Mahoney
• 1958: Reverend Mark Franck
• 1957: Dr. Harry Doyle
• 1956: Reverend Kevin Kidd
• 1955: Reverend Fernand Porter
• 1954: His Excellency The Most Reverend Daniel J. Feeney