Commencement at OSU has included inspiring keynote addresses from a variety of alumni and community members.
Jane Lubchenco - 2019 Commencement Speaker
“We celebrate and welcome you today. We invite you to take your place in shaping the world. In fact, we are relying on you to do just that. Those of you who embrace change, nurture people and nature, and take charge and create change will be better able to navigate the turbulent waters ahead and be a force of change for good..” – Jane Lubchenco, OSU Distinguished Professor, the Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology, and Marine Studies Advisor to President Ray.
Harley Jessup - 2018 Commencement Speaker
“In life as in art, so much that is meaningful comes from the wonderful, unexpected irregularity of the world. Take the time to appreciate the imperfections in life – in yourself and in others. That is where the beauty lies.” – Harley Jessup, Production Designer and Visual Effects Art Director for Pixar, OSU Alumni Class of 1976.
Hüsnü Özyegin - 2017 Commencement Speaker
“It is your life, your future and so I will end with the words of the Sufi mystic Rumi: “Don’t be satisfied with stories of how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth” Class of 2017, I urge you all to unfold your own myth!” – Hüsnü M. Özyegin, President of Özyegin University, OSU Alumni Class of 1967.
Juan Filipe Herrera - 2016 Commencement Speaker
“My message is "You have a beautiful voice," as my third grade teacher told me in third grade. My message is "sew kindness and peace where ever you go." We are waiting for the new you. Be a poet. Yes. Be a dancer, yes -- a singer of the total "expression of your spirit," as Muhammad Ali would say -- for others - and you will find happiness.” – Juan Filipe Herrera, United States Poet Laureate.
Howard K. Koh - 2015 Commencement Speaker
“Dear graduates, in your lives, I hope you too can heed that inner voice. Though perhaps only as soft as a whisper, it can be persistent and tug at your soul. And if in the future you ever say to yourselves “there’s got to be another way”—that could be a calling for you to stand for something.” - Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH, Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.