Educator and mathematician will speak at the May 18 ceremony
“Dr. Hrabowski has dedicated his life to elevating education and the sciences,” said Sunil Kumar, Tufts University president. “He has led an exemplary life and is a bright light inspiring generations of students and fellow scholars.” Marlayna Demond for UMBC
Freeman A. Hrabowski III, mathematician, education leader, and president emeritus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will deliver the commencement address to the Tufts University Class of 2025 on Sunday, May 18.
Hrabowski will speak at the Class of 2025 all-university ceremony, which will also be streamed via the Tufts Commencement website.
Hrabowski served as the president of University of Maryland, Baltimore County for 30 years, beginning in 1992. Under his leadership, the public university was among the top-ranked nationally in innovation and STEM leadership.
Hrabowski’s research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He has authored numerous articles and co-authored five books based on his research and program outcomes. He chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the report Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads.
In 2012, President Barack Obama named him chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
With philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff, he co-founded in 1988 the Meyerhoff Scholars Program. Recognized as a national model, the program is open to high-achieving students committed to pursuing graduate and professional degrees and research careers in STEM and advancing underrepresented minorities in these fields.
His honors include election to the National Academy of Sciences, which awarded him its prestigious Public Welfare Medal for his extraordinary use of science for the public good, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences.
He has also received many awards, including the U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring; the McGraw Prize in Education; the American Council on Education’s Lifetime Achievement Award; Educator of the Year from the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C.; the Heinz Award for his contributions to improving the human condition; and the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award, recognized by many as the nation's highest award among higher education leaders.
In 2022, with a commitment of $1.5 billion, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute launched the Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program to help build a scientific workforce that more fully reflects our increasingly diverse country. Also in 2022, Harvard University named Hrabowski the inaugural Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Lecture Speaker.
Hrabowski currently works with education, government, and business leaders as a consultant, lecturer, and speaker on such topics as leadership, STEM education, workforce development, and civic engagement. He also holds honorary degrees from over 50 universities, including Harvard, Princeton, Duke, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, Johns Hopkins, and Georgetown.
Hrabowski was born in Birmingham, Alabama, during segregation. Both his parents worked as teachers and stressed the value and importance of education. A leader in the civil rights movement at a young age, Hrabowski was prominently featured in Spike Lee’s 1997 documentary Four Little Girls about the racially motivated 1963 bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church.
He graduated from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) with highest honors in mathematics. He received a master’s degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in higher education administration/statistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“Dr. Hrabowski has dedicated his life to elevating education and the sciences,” said Sunil Kumar, Tufts University president. “He has led an exemplary life and is a bright light inspiring generations of students and fellow scholars. We are honored to host him on campus as we celebrate the extraordinary class of 2025.”
At commencement, which begins at 9 a.m. on the academic quad of Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus, Hrabowski will receive an honorary Doctor of Education degree. Five other distinguished individuals will receive honorary degrees as part of the Class of 2025:
Steven Boxer, A69, chemist and educator. After earning a bachelor’s degree with honors in chemistry from Tufts in 1969 and a Ph.D. in physical and physical-organic chemistry from the University in Chicago in 1976, Boxer joined the chemistry faculty at Stanford University as an assistant professor. He was named the Camille Dreyfus Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in 2000 and currently serves as chair of the chemistry department. In his lab, Boxer and his students investigate the structure and function of biological systems using many tools and methods. They use a wide range of chemical and recombinant DNA methods to modify proteins and monitor or modulate their function, inventing experimental methods and developing theory as needed. This includes studies of the initial steps in photosynthesis, excited state processes in green fluorescent protein, model membrane architectures, and the connection between electric fields and catalysis in enzymes. Boxer has served on the scientific advisory board of many startups in the general area of biotechnology, and as an advisor to government, university, and nonprofit organizations in the United States and around the world. Boxer will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree.
Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox and STEM advocacy leader. Burns has extensive international experience in leading large companies that are facing sea changes in technology within their industries. She joined Xerox Corporation as a summer intern in 1980 and went on to hold leadership posts spanning corporate services, manufacturing, and product development. She was appointed president in 2007 and served as chairwoman of the board from 2010 to 2017 and CEO from 2009 to 2016. During her tenure, she helped the company transform from a global leader in document technology to the world’s most diversified business services company, serving enterprises and governments of all sizes. After her retirement from Xerox, she served as chairwoman and CEO of VEON, during which time she successfully steered the company through various compliance and restructuring changes. Burns is a founding partner of Integrum Holdings, a private-equity firm, and a non-executive chairwoman of Teneo Holdings, LLC. President Obama appointed Burns to lead the White House national program on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math from 2009 to 2016, and she also served as chair of the President’s Export Council from 2015 to 2016. Burns will receive an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree.
Burns will also address graduates of the School of Engineering as part of the bachelor’s degree commencement celebration on May 18.
Peter Dolan, A78, A08P, business leader, philanthropist, and Tufts Board of Trustees chairman emeritus. Dolan graduated from Tufts with a bachelor’s degree in social psychology, magna cum laude, and went on to earn an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. After eight years at General Foods in consumer marketing, he joined Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1988, eventually leading the company’s consumer, nutritionals, and medical device businesses. He was named chairman and CEO in 2001. Dolan joined the Tufts Board of Trustees in 2001, and he was appointed vice chair in 2008 and served as board chairman from 2013 to 2024. During his board service, Dolan helped guide Tufts through two presidential searches and two university-wide fundraising campaigns—and through the challenges of a global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. With a particular interest in health and wellness, Dolan chaired the Partnership for a Healthier America and the Friedman School’s ChildObesity180 initiative. With his wife Katie and sons Chris, A08, and Tim, he trained with the Tufts President’s Marathon Challenge team and ran the Boston Marathon. He is currently a one-on-one leadership coach to senior business executives. Dolan will receive an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree.
James J. O’Connell, M.D. In 1985, O’Connell and his colleagues established Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP), which included the nation’s first medical respite program for homeless persons. Today, with O’Connell as its president and founding physician, BHCHP serves over 10,000 homeless individuals and families each year in two hospital-based clinics, in 30 shelters and outreach sites, and on the streets of Boston. The innovative program provides acute and sub-acute, pre- and post-operative, and palliative and end-of-life care. An assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, O’Connell is the author of Stories from the Shadows: Reflections of a Street Doctor. In 1995, working with the MGH Laboratory of Computer Science, O’Connell designed and implemented the nation’s first computerized medical record for a homeless program. From 1989 until 1996, he served as the national program director of the Homeless Families Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He has collaborated with homeless programs in many cities, including Los Angeles, London, and Sydney. O’Connell will receive an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree.
Nancy Schön, J53, award-winning artist and activist. Regarded as Boston’s foremost architect of urban joy, she is a sculptor known for her warm, evocative representations of human and animal figures. After earning admission to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (now the SMFA at Tufts), Schön took classes jointly at Tufts and earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology from the university in 1953. In 1987, the Friends of the Boston Public Garden commissioned Make Way for Ducklings, a sculpture based on Robert McCloskey’s classic of children’s literature. The sculpture has become a beloved Boston landmark. She has received dozens of sculpture commissions, public and private, and has exhibited throughout the United States and abroad, including many one-woman shows. Schön is also a community activist. In her words, “Art is powerful, and we artists have a vital obligation to leave our truthful footprint on history.” She is known as the “grandmother” of a 40,000 square foot world-class skate park that opened under Boston’s Zakim Bridge in 2016. Schön will receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. (Photo: Jess Sinatra)
In addition:
- Allison Perkel, head of Software, Mobile and Software Development at Blink, will address graduates of the School of Engineering’s graduate programs on Saturday, May 17.
- On Sunday, May 18:
- Danielle Nierenberg, N01, FoodTank cofounder, will address those gathered at the Commencement ceremony for the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
- HE the Honorable Dr. Kevin Rudd, Australia's ambassador to the United States, will deliver the keynote address at the Commencement ceremony for The Fletcher School.
