The database of commencement speakers is searchable in three different ways: by year, by speaker name, and by institution. For convenience, the dates of operation of the different institutions that comprised the University of Delaware over time are provided below:

Please note: where the speakers' occupations are provided, this data is intended to reflect their positions at the times when they spoke at the University, not the entirety of their careers.

Several years are missing from the sequence of commencements. Between 1860 and 1869, Delaware College was closed, and no commencements were held. After 1924, the Women's College no longer held separate commencements. Rather, joint ceremonies were held from that year until the final merger of the men's and women's colleges in 1945.

Several speakers' names are missing from this list, particularly for Newark and Delaware Colleges. Unfortunately, the records of commencement exercises during the nineteenth century do not allow for the full reconstruction of this data.