Georgetown University announced its graduation speakers for the Class of 2026 on April 27. Among the star-studded line-up of 13 speakers are seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and former Secretary of State John Kerry.
“We are honored to welcome this year’s accomplished group of speakers and alumni to the Class of 2026’s commencement ceremonies,” Georgetown Interim President Robert M. Groves said in a university press release. “They are each leaders in their fields, and we are grateful for their words of wisdom as we send our Hoyas out into the world.”
School: College of Arts and Sciences
Speaker: James Farley Jr. (CAS ’85)
James Farley Jr. (CAS ’85) is the president and CEO of Ford Motors and an alumnus of Georgetown University’s College of Arts and Sciences, graduating in 1985 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Computer Science. Described as an avid “car guy,” before joining Ford, Farley previously worked for Toyota Motors and Harley Davidson. Farley is also a cousin of the late comedian Chris Farley, who was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995. Farley also hosts a podcast for Ford called “DRIVE with Jim Farley,” where he chats with industry leaders, celebrities, and automotive enthusiasts. He will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
School: McDonough School of Business
Undergraduate Speaker: Tom Brady
Tom Brady is a seven-time Super Bowl Champion (and a ten-time attendee), being awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) for five of those wins. He has 15 Pro Bowl appearances, three NFL MVP awards, and two offensive player of the year awards. He played with the New England Patriots for the first 19 years of his career before playing his final three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Post-retirement, Brady serves as a color commentator for Fox Sports, as well as a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Brady drew controversy during his time in the NFL for his involvement in the deflategate scandal, which some suggested gave him and his team an unfair advantage in the 2015 AFC championship. He will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
Graduate Speaker: Essya Hanachi (MSB ’91)
Essya Hanachi (MSB ’91) is the Senior Finance Executive and former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for U.S. Personal Banking at Citigroup. Before joining Citi, Hanachi served as the CFO of Chase Card Services at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from 2017 to 2021. Hanachi graduated from the MSB in 1991, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. Hanachi is also on the board of SCO Family of Services, a New York-based non-profit organization that offers an array of programs, including education, mental health services, and housing support, to under-resourced communities in New York. Hanachi will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
School: Walsh School of Foreign Service
Undergraduate Speaker: John Kerry
John Kerry is a politician and diplomat who served as Secretary of State from 2013 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. He previously served as a Senator for Massachusetts from 1985 to 2013 and as the Democratic nominee for U.S. President in 2004. After his stint as Secretary of State, Kerry was the first U.S. Special Envoy for Climate under the Biden administration from 2021 to 2024. In May 2024, then-President Joe Biden awarded Kerry the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Graduate Speaker: Comfort Ero
Comfort Ero is a policymaker who is the current president and CEO of the International Crisis Group (ICG), a think tank analyzing policies that promote peace and navigate global conflict. Ero was awarded the 2023 Sir Brian Urquhart Award for Distinguished Service to the United Nations (UN). She first joined ICG as West Africa Project Director in 2001 before becoming their Africa Program Director and eventually Interim Vice President. During a stint away from ICG, Ero was the Political Affairs Officer and Policy Advisor to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Liberia from 2004 to 2007. Ero has published papers on the Lomé peace agreement on Sierra Leone, the role of the UN in humanitarian intervention, and Britain’s Africa policies. Ero will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
School: Berkley School of Nursing
Speaker: Mary Wakefield
Wakefield is the Former Acting Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is a Visiting Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Health Care at Georgetown University. From 2009 to 2015, Wakefield served as the Administrator of the Health Resources and Service Administration under President Barack Obama. In 2015, Obama appointed Wakefield as the Acting Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, overseeing the management and operations of the $1 trillion department. In 2022, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tapped Wakefield to revamp the CDC’s operations. Before these positions, Wakefield had her roots as a nurse in Devils Lake, a rural town in North Dakota. She will be awarded an honorary doctorate of science.
School: School of Health
Speaker: Dr. Kedar Mate
Dr. Kedar Mate is the Founder & Chief Medical Officer of Qualified Health AI, a startup designed to help health systems integrate artificial intelligence into their services. Before his career in entrepreneurship, Mate earned an MD at Harvard Medical School and facilitated the World Health Organization’s 3 by 5 Initiative in Geneva in 2003. Before founding Qualified Health AI, Mate was the President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, which offers courses and certifications for healthcare-related fields. Mate also serves as a member of the faculty of Weill Cornell Medicine. Mate will be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree.
School: McCourt School of Public Policy
Speaker: Cindy McCain
Cindy McCain is a diplomat and businesswoman who currently serves as the executive director for the World Food Programme (WFP), a United Nations initiative providing food assistance worldwide. McCain previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture from 2021 to 2023 under the Biden Administration. During her time as ambassador, she focused her efforts on food crises caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the growing impacts of climate change on agriculture. As director of the WFP, she has worked to address the famine following Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has severely restricted the supply of food in Gaza, as well as humanitarian crises in Sudan, Yemen, and the Congo. McCain announced in February that she would step down as executive director of the WFP sometime in May amid ongoing health challenges. McCain will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
School: Georgetown University in Qatar
Speaker: Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulla Al Thani
Sheikh Mohammed is the Chairman of travel site Musafir.com and High Camp Holding Company. A sportsman, Sheikh Mohammed was the first Qatari man to scale Mount Everest and to meet the Seven Summits challenge—requiring him to climb to the top of the highest mountains on all seven continents.
School: Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, including Biomedical Graduate Education
Speaker: Mary Beard
Dame Mary Beard is an English classicist specializing in Ancient Rome who serves as a trustee of the British Museum and a fellow of Newnham College in Cambridge. She is also a professor of Ancient Literature at the Royal Academy of Arts and the classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, a UK literary review. She has published over 20 books, winning the Wolfson History Prize for Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town and earning a place on the National Book Critics Circle Award shortlist for Confronting the Classics. She is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Corresponding Member of the Archaeological Institute of America, and a Fellow of the British Academy. Beard will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
School: School of Continuing Studies (SCS)
Speaker: Merve Cinarli Hickok
Merve Hickok is the President and Policy Director at the Center for AI & Digital Policy, which assesses national AI policies and practices, produces annual reports on democratic values in AI, and offers resources for fair and just uses of AI. Hickok also founded AIethicist.org, which offers responsible AI training and consultations. She is also a lecturer at the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Hickok will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.
School: School of Medicine
Speaker: Dr. Carlos Pellegrini
Dr. Carlos Pellegrini is the former Chief Medical Officer and a Professor Chair Emeritus at the University of Washington (UW) Medicine. Pellegrini spent his childhood in a farming village in rural Argentina and emigrated to the U.S. in 1975. After completing his second surgical residency at the University of Chicago, Pellegrini was appointed to the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco from 1979 to 1993, after which he served as chair of the Department of Surgery at UW Medicine for 23 years. He will be awarded an honorary doctorate in science.
School: Georgetown Law
Speaker: Morton Schapiro
Morton Schapiro was the 16th president of Northwestern University, serving from 2009 to 2022. Prior to his tenure at Northwestern, Schapiro was the president of Williams College from 2000 to 2009, the vice president for planning at the University of Southern California (USC) from 1998 to 2000, and the dean of USC’s College of Letters, Arts and Sciences from 1994 to 2000. Schapiro has delivered commencement addresses at other institutions, including Amherst College in 2001 and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 2013. He will be awarded an honorary doctorate of laws degree.
