The President of the Institute was the principal speaker at Commencement exercises from 1964-1981 and before 1950.
1997 -- Kofi A. Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
1996 -- Albert Gore, Vice President of the United States
1995 -- Professor Hanna H. Gray, president emeritus of the University of Chicago
1994 -- Karim Aga Khan IV, spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims
1993 -- Carlos Salinas de Gortari, President of the United Mexican States
1992 -- Leslie Aspin, Congressman from Wisconsin; chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
1991 -- Walter E. Massey, director of the National Science Foundation
1990 -- Virgilio Barco, President of the Republic of Colombia
1989 -- Paul E. Tsongas, chairman of the Board of Regents of Higher Education of Massachusetts; former US Senator from Massachusetts
1988 -- A. Bartlett Giamatti, president of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs; former president of Yale University
1987 -- Kenneth H. Olsen, founder and president of Digital Equipment Corp.
1986 -- William R. Hewlett, vice chairman of the board of directors, Hewlett-Packard Co.
1985 -- Lee A. Iacocca, chairman of the board and CEO, Chrysler Corp.
1984 -- Shirley Chisholm, former Congresswoman of Brooklyn, NY
1983 -- Helmut Schmidt, former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
1982 -- Katharine Graham, chairman of the board and CEO, Washington Post Co.
1963 -- Eugene R. Black, president of International Bank of Reconstruction and Development; consultant to Secretary General of United Nations
1962 -- Theodore M. Hesburgh, president of the University of Notre Dame
1961 -- Frank Stanton, president, Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.
1960 -- Edwin H. Land, founder, Polaroid Corp.
1959 -- John Cowles, president, Minneapolis Star and Tribune Co.
1958 -- John J. McCloy, chairman of the board, Chase Manhattan Bank
1957 -- John W. Gardner, president, Carnegie Corp.
1956 -- Neil McElroy, president, Proctor and Gamble
1955 -- Sir Roger M. Makins, British ambassador to the United States
1954 -- Clarence B. Randall, Inland Steel Co.
1953 -- Lewis W. Douglas, Southern Arizona Bank and Trust Co.
1952 -- Edward A. Weeks, Jr., editor, Atlantic Monthly
1951 -- Harold R. Medina, US District Court judge, New York City
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 29, 1998.
