Speakers and Honored Guests

2019 Honorary Degree Recipients

  • Patrick Kennedy Patrick Kennedy - Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa
    Undergraduate Commencement Speaker

    Former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, who led the fight for health insurance parity for those with mental health and substance use disorders, will be the speaker at the University of Rhode Island’s 133rd Commencement, Sunday, May 19.
  • Edward Avedisian Edward Avedisian - Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa

    The son of Armenian Genocide survivors, Edward Avedisian grew up in an immigrant neighborhood in Pawtucket and graduated from the city’s public schools. He was a clarinetist with the Boston Pops for 35 years and the Boston Ballet Orchestra for more than 40.
  • Margaret Brandon Margaret Brandon ’80, M.M.A. ’97 - Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa

    Margaret “Peg” Brandon, president of Sea Education Association (SEA) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, first went to sea with SEA’s flagship study abroad program, SEA Semester, as a URI undergraduate student.
  • John Grandin John Grandin - Doctor of Engineering, Honoris Causa

    John M. Grandin is founding director of the International Engineering Program (IEP) and professor emeritus of German. The IEP is one of the first global engineering programs in the nation, and one of the few that educates truly bilingual engineers.
  • Lynn Pasquerella Lynn Pasquerella - Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa

    Lynn C. Pasquerella is president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education.

Graduate Ceremony Speaker

  • James Prochaska - James O. Prochaska, Ph.D., world-renowned professor of clinical psychology and leading expert on behavior change and population health, will address the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate Commencement on Saturday, May 18, at 9 a.m. at the Ryan Center.

Student Speakers

  • Nick Constant - Graduate Student Speaker
    Nick Constant, who will earn a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from URI in 2021, will be the student speaker for the Graduate Commencement Ceremony, Saturday, May 18 at 12:30 p.m. at the Ryan Center.
  • Stephen D'Aloisio Stephen D’Aloisio - Undergraduate Student Speaker
    Graduating senior Stephen D'Aloisio of Lincoln, RI, will address the University’s 133rd Commencement on May 19 as the student speaker. The Student Senate chose D’Aloisio, a communication studies major, to address the crowd of 15,000 gathered that Sunday on the Quadrangle.