Commencement Speakers Announced

This year’s commencement speakers will feature a wide range of famous names, including journalist and television producer David Simon and LivingSocial CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy, the university announced Friday afternoon.

Simon, who is best known for his creation of the acclaimed television dramas “The Wire” and “Treme,” is slated to speak at the commencement exercises for Georgetown College. Originally a homicide investigative reporter with The Baltimore Sun, Simon now contributes to The New Yorker and The Washington Post in addition to his television pursuits.

O’Shaughnessy (MSB ’04) will deliver the commencement address for the McDonough School of Business. The LivingSocial co-founder has overseen the continued expansion of the online daily deals provider, which now boasts six offices in the District.

Indian workers rights advocate Ela Bhatt will address the graduating seniors of the School of Foreign Service. In 1972, Bhatt established the Self-Employed Women’s Association, the largest union in India. She has gained international acclaim for her work to improve the plight of women through literacy programs, micro-finance and low-cost housing.

Addressing the School of Nursing and Health Studies will be U.S. Global Leadership Coalition Senior Director Mark Green. Having served as the ambassador to Tanzania and as a Wisconsin member of the House of Representatives, Green has crafted a variety of U.S. foreign policies aimed at eradicating AIDS and malaria from developing countries.

At the graduate level, neuroscientist Helen Neville, Deloitte CEO Barry Salzberg, Priceline co-founder Scott Case and nationally acclaimed cardiologist Michael Zasloff are slated to address graduates of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the MBA program, the School of Continuing Studies and the School of Medicine, respectively. In addition, professor Gay McDougall will speak to graduates of Georgetown Law Center on behalf of her late husband, civil rights attorney John Payton.

Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will be speaking to the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, while Indonesian economist Sri Mulyani Indrawati and German politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (GRD ’93) will address graduates of the Master of Science in Foreign Service program.

For the first time, the university has created a blog dedicated to “Commencement Shout-Outs” where students and parents can post their thoughts and well wishes for the Class of 2012. Additionally, this year’s commencement exercises will be webcast live on the university’s website.

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