Condoleezza Rice named as 2016 commencement speaker
Pictured is Condoleezza Rice, the Class of 2016’s commencement speaker. Photo by: highpoint.edu
By Alexis Ancel, News Editor//
High Point University has officially announced that Condoleezza Rice will be the 2016 Commencement Speaker.
Rice is best known for her work serving as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State.
Former President George W. Bush appointed Rice 66th Secretary of State in 2005, making her the first black woman to hold the position.
Rice has done a great deal of work helping negotiate with other countries and helping achieve peace, including the signing of the U.S.-India Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.
She has also expanded the number of worldwide diplomatic governments through the idea of “Transformational Diplomacy,” focusing on the Middle East in particular.
She has since been listed as one of Time Magazine’s world’s 100 most influential people four times and has also worked as a professor at Stanford University for more than 30 years.
Rice is currently the Denning professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson senior fellow on public policy at the Hoover Institution; and a professor of Political Science at Stanford.
Many are excited for this prominent political figure to speak at commencement. HPU President, Dr. Nido Qubein recenlty stated, “Secretary Rice has served this country in measurable ways through her work in our nation’s capital, in free enterprise, in academia and in efforts to improve education for children. She embodies the American spirit and its core values, which we proudly celebrate on our campus.”
Commencement will be held May 7.