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Commencement 2009

THE BIG DAY


Nearly 7,000 Harvard students became Harvard graduates on Thursday, June 4.

Read our coverage, from the July-August 2009 issue, of U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and other speakers.

View commencement photographs or read Commencement Confetti—and be sure to scroll down for Web exclusives, including audio and video.

ROTC Commissioning

Leadership tips from a “soldier-scholar”

Class Day

Matt Lauer’s advice for the class of 2009, plus student speeches

 

Radcliffe Day

Off-the-bench opinions from Sandra Day O’Connor

Up-To-Date Coverage

  1. Giving a spell-out for <a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/2009-speeches">Graduate English orator Joseph Claghorn</a> were fellow landscape-architecture students Vanessa Lindley Palmer (J; the ringleader), Katie Jean Powell (O), Sisi Sun (S), Joonhyun Kim (E), Simon Mark Bussiere (P), and Adrienne Re Heflich (H). Design School students still play with blocks.
    A Worldly Week
    July 1, 2009
    Commencement celebrants and celebrations faced up to real world problems.
  2. Anthony S. Fauci
    Honoris Causa
    July 1, 2009
    The honorary-degree recipients, class of 2009
  3. Latin Salutatorian Paul Mumma ’09 (<a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/2009-speeches">View a video of his speech</a>.)
    "Changed Times"
    July 1, 2009
    A sampling of the 2009 Commencement week addresses
  4. Matt Lauer
    Commencement Confetti
    July 1, 2009
    Notes and statistics, vital and otherwise
  5. Lois Beckett
    "This Shaking Keeps Us Steady"
    July 1, 2009
    The Senior English address
  6. Drew Faust
    "Producers of Doubt"
    July 1, 2009
    President Faust’s address to the alumni
  7. "If You Love Rats"
    July 1, 2009
    The Harvard Medical School Class Day address
  8. Albert Goldbarth
    "Days With the Family Realist"
    July 1, 2009
    A poem for the 2009 Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises
  9. Steven Chu
    “A Passion and a Voice”
    July 1, 2009
    U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu’s address at the afternoon exercises
  10. Dean Grosz and O'Connor
    Off-the-Bench Opinions
    June 5, 2009
    Radcliffe Institute Medalist Sandra Day O'Connor offers candid views over lunch.
  11. Commencement Day 2009
    June 4, 2009
    With speeches by President Drew Faust and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
  12. The Prodigal Doctor Returns
    June 4, 2009
    “Samuel Shem” speaks at the Medical School.
  13. June 4, 2009: Afternoon Exercises
    Ceremonial Scenes
    June 4, 2009
    Photos from Commencement week
  14. President Faust with this year's honorary degree recipients. From left to right: Sidney Verba, Pedro Almodóvar, Steven Chu, Wynton Marsalis, Ronald Dworkin, Faust, Wendy Doniger, Joan Didion, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Anthony Fauci, and Robert Langer
    In Esteemed Company
    June 4, 2009
    This year's honorary degree recipients come from the worlds of literature, cinema, music, AIDS and cancer research—and more.
  15. “Service Connects Us to Each Other and the Community”
    June 3, 2009
    U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius gives the Commencement address at the Harvard Kennedy School.
  16. The Solicitous Solicitor General Returns
    June 3, 2009
    Former dean Elena Kagan speaks at the Law School Class Day.
  17. “Today” Comes to Class Day
    June 3, 2009
    Matt Lauer's advice for the class of 2009, plus student speeches
  18. HBS Class Day speaker Jamie Dimon
    Management Maxims from HBS Class Day
    June 3, 2009
    Jamie Dimon returned to campus at the end of a tumultuous year to share thoughts on careers, leadership, and obligations to society.
  19. President Drew Faust presented each newly commissioned officer with a copy of <i>Just and Unjust Wars</i> by Michael Walzer.
    Leadership Tips from a "Soldier Scholar"
    June 3, 2009
    General David Petraeus speaks at the ROTC commissioning ceremony.
  20. Significant Contributors to Society and Scholarship
    June 3, 2009
    The 2009 GSAS Centennial Medalists
  21. Seniors, led by the Reverend Peter Gomes and their class marshals, head to Baccalaureate.
    Life As Improvisation: The Baccalaureate Service
    June 2, 2009
    President Drew Faust calls the class of 2009 to find opportunity in uncertainty.
  22. 2009 Phi Beta Kappa poet Albert Goldbarth
    "Habits Are Values in Disguise": The Phi Beta Kappa Exercises
    June 2, 2009
    Poems about optimisim and humility, and an oration on sustaining the earth
  23. Commencement Kickoff: Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises
    June 2, 2009
    With poet Albert Goldbarth and orator James Engell, Gurney professor of English literature and professor of comparative literature
  24. Duck tamale on spinach salad with a warm bacon and mustard dressing from Chez Henri
    Square Eats
    May 1, 2009
    Some favorite local restaurants
  25. The Week's Events
    May 1, 2009
    What, where, and when during a busy week
  26. Steven Chu
    Chu to Speak at Commencement
    April 2, 2009
    U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will be the principal speaker at Commencement on June 4.

Reunion Report

  1. Matt Lauer
    Commencement Confetti
    July 1, 2009
    Notes and statistics, vital and otherwise
  2. 2009 Class Marshals
    July 1, 2009
    The elected leaders of the College class of 2009
  3. John F. Cogan Jr.
    2009 Harvard Medalists
    July 1, 2009
    Three alumni are honored for outstanding service to the University.
  4. Frances Pass Addelson
    The Senior Celebrants of 2009
    July 1, 2009
    Harvard’s most venerable alumni
  5. And the Winners Are…
    July 1, 2009
    Results of the 2009 Overseer and Harvard Alumni Association elected director races
  6. Fiftieth reunioners David Leipziger, Kitty Beer, and Howard Kristol, J.D. ’62.
    "Thank You, Alumni"
    July 1, 2009
    Reunioners and seniors of 2009 give the University a welcome assist.
  7. Last June, members of the College class of 1936 waved brooms to honor J.K. Rowling.
    "You Haven't Changed a Bit"
    May 1, 2009
    Why people worry about reunions
  8. Roger Fu in the Science Center’s Loomis-Michael Observatory, where he shows fellow students the skies
    Glimpses of Senior Life
    May 1, 2009
    The Harvard College experiences of three imminent alumni: Roger Fu, Marta Figlerowicz, and Tamara Jafar

Commencement Events

Tuesday, June 2

Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises
11:00 • Sanders Theatre

With poet Albert Goldbarth and orator James Engell, Gurney professor of English literature and professor of comparative literature.

Wednesday, June 3

Senior Class Day Exercises
2:00 • TERCENTENARY THEATRE

With the Harvard and Ivy Orations and NBC broadcast journalist Matt Lauer as guest speaker.

Thursday, June 4

The 358th Commencement Exercises
9:45 • TERCENTENARY THEATRE

With conferring of degrees on candidates from Harvard College and all graduate schools, as well as the conferring of honorary degrees.

The Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association
2:30 • TERCENTENARY THEATRE

With speeches by President Drew Faust and U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

Friday, June 5

Radcliffe Institute Annual Luncheon
12:30 • Radcliffe Yard

With former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Past Commencements

  1. J.K. Rowling
    Commencement 2008
    June 9, 2008
    Full texts and audiovisual recordings of major speeches, the Phi Beta Kappa poet and orator, and the lead student orators.
  2. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, spoke at the afternoon exercises of Harvard's
    Commencement 2007
    June 11, 2007
    Full texts and audiovisual recordings of major speeches, the Phi Beta Kappa poet and orator, and the lead student orators.