The Maxwell School is pleased to share the following information to help graduating students finalize plans for upcoming festivities.

Events begin at 10 a.m. Friday, May 12, with the Maxwell School’s Graduate Convocation in Hendricks Chapel. The featured speaker is Assistant Professor of Economics Alexander Rothenberg, recipient of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award for Teaching and Research, the highest honor the Maxwell School offers to untenured faculty. The student address will be given by Katherine Oborne ’23, who is from Melbourne, Australia, and who is receiving an executive master of public administration. A reception with appetizers and refreshments will immediately follow in the Lincoln Courtyard.

The Undergraduate Convocation for the Maxwell School and College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) will be held at 8:30 a.m. the following day, Saturday, May 13, in the JMA Wireless Dome. Debra Adams Simmons ’86, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at National Geographic Media, will deliver the alumni keynote address. A reception with appetizers and refreshments will immediately follow in the Quad.

Those events are a prelude to Syracuse University’s 2023 Commencement Ceremony, which will be held in the JMA Wireless Dome at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, May 14. Maxwell alumna Donna E. Shalala G’70, H’87 will deliver remarks.

Shalala has held prominent leadership roles in higher education and the federal government. During the Carter administration, she served as assistant secretary for policy development and research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. From 1993-2001, she served under the Clinton administration as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

In 2001, she was named president of the University of Miami, a post she held through August 2015. Under her leadership, the university solidified its position among top U.S. research universities. Shalala also previously served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and president of Hunter College (City University of New York). She has been elected to seven national academies, including the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Public Administration and the National Academy of Education.

Shalala is a member of the Maxwell Advisory Board and has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, the National Public Service Award and the Harry S. Truman Legacy of Leadership Award. Read more about her on Syracuse University News.

More information about Maxwell-related graduation events can be found on the school’s website. For up-to-date information about Syracuse University's 2023 Commencement Weekend, visit the Commencement website.