Babson College has named Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as its commencement speaker for undergraduate and graduate students during ceremonies on the Wellesley campus on Saturday, May 20.
President Sirleaf, a Nobel Laureate and the first female President of an African nation, will receive the honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the college. President Sirleaf is known as Africa’s “Iron Lady”, and she has chronicled her story in the memoir This Child Will Be Great. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work securing women’s rights.
The undergraduate ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. and the graduate ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m.
“President Sirleaf’s global leadership and historic election reflect an entrepreneurial spirit that resonates with our global Babson community and will serve to inspire our students as they seek to employ the transformative power of entrepreneurship and create positive change in the world” said Babson College President Kerry Healey, in a statement.
Babson commonly has multiple speakers, with separate ones for undergraduate and graduate school students.
Across town, Wellesley College came close to getting a president for its speaker, too: Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver the commencement address at ceremonies on May 26.
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