| Complete List of Commencement Speakers | ||
|---|---|---|
| SPEECH DATE | COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER | INSTITUTION |
| 09/28/1836 | Newark College | |
| 09/28/1838 | Newark College | |
| 09/25/1839 | Newark College | |
| 09/23/1840 | Newark College | |
| 09/21/1841 | Newark College | |
| 09/28/1842 | Newark College | |
| 09/27/1843 | Delaware College | |
| 07/17/1844 | Delaware College | |
| 06/25/1845 | Delaware College | |
| 07/15/1846 | Delaware College | |
| 07/21/1847 | Delaware College | |
| 07/19/1848 | Delaware College | |
| 07/18/1849 | Delaware College | |
| 1851 | Delaware College | |
| 1852 | Delaware College | |
| 1853 | Delaware College | |
| 07/19/1854 | Delaware College | |
| 07/04/1855 | Delaware College | |
| 07/02/1856 | Delaware College | |
| 07/01/1857 | Delaware College | |
| 07/07/1858 | Delaware College | |
| 07/05/1871 | Thomas Francis Bayard Sr. | Delaware College |
| 07/03/1872 | Delaware College | |
| 06/18/1873 | Delaware College | |
| 06/17/1874 | William H. Wahl | Delaware College |
| 06/16/1875 | Montgomery C. Blair | Delaware College |
| 06/21/1876 | John W. Crisfield | Delaware College |
| 06/20/1877 | Delaware College | |
| 06/19/1878 | Delaware College | |
| 06/18/1879 | Delaware College | |
| 06/16/1880 | Delaware College | |
| 06/15/1881 | Delaware College | |
| 06/21/1882 | Delaware College | |
| 06/20/1883 | Thomas N. Williams | Delaware College |
| 06/18/1884 | William F. Causey | Delaware College |
| 06/17/1885 | Delaware College | |
| 06/16/1886 | John Hollis Caldwell | Delaware College |
| 06/15/1887 | Delaware College | |
| 06/20/1888 | Charles Brown Lore | Delaware College |
| 06/19/1889 | Delaware College | |
| 06/18/1890 | Delaware College | |
| 06/17/1891 | Delaware College | |
| 06/15/1892 | Delaware College | |
| 06/21/1893 | Delaware College | |
| 06/20/1894 | Delaware College | |
| 06/19/1895 | Delaware College | |
| 06/17/1896 | Delaware College | |
| 06/16/1897 | Howard Pyle | Delaware College |
| 06/15/1898 | John Bassett Moore | Delaware College |
| 06/21/1899 | H. B. B. Stapler | Delaware College |
| 06/20/1900 | John Bassett Moore | Delaware College |
| 06/19/1901 | James Pennewill | Delaware College |
| 06/18/1902 | John R. Nicholson | Delaware College |
| 06/17/1903 | James Wilson | Delaware College |
| 06/15/1904 | Henry C. Conrad | Delaware College |
| 06/21/1905 | John Biggs | Delaware College |
| 06/20/1906 | Henry Ridgeley Jr. | Delaware College |
| 06/19/1907 | Herbert H. Ward | Delaware College |
| 06/17/1908 | Edward Noble Vallandigham | Delaware College |
| 06/16/1909 | Victor B. Woolley | Delaware College |
| 06/15/1910 | Alexander C. Humphreys | Delaware College |
| 06/21/1911 | William T. Smithers | Delaware College |
| 06/19/1912 | Charles W. Heuisler | Delaware College |
| 06/19/1913 | Robert H. Richards | Delaware College |
| 06/17/1914 | Joseph Taylor Robinson | Delaware College |
| 06/09/1915 | Charles F. Thwing | Delaware College |
| 06/14/1916 | John Bassett Moore | Delaware College |
| 06/13/1917 | Elisha Lee | Delaware College |
| 06/10/1918 | William Howard Taft | Delaware College |
| 06/10/1918 | Anna Howard Shaw | Women's College of Delaware |
| 06/09/1919 | Emma Doll Bailey Speer | Women's College of Delaware |
| 06/09/1919 | John Skelton Williams | Delaware College |
| 06/14/1920 | Thomas Nelson Page | Delaware College |
| 06/14/1920 | Elizabeth Kemper Adams | Women's College of Delaware |
| 06/13/1921 | Nancy M. Schoonmaker | Women's College of Delaware |
| 06/13/1921 | William Lyon Phelps | University of Delaware |
| 06/12/1922 | Irvine Luther Lenroot | University of Delaware |
| 06/12/1922 | Amy Reed | Women's College of Delaware |
| 06/11/1923 | Jules Jusserand | University of Delaware |
| 06/19/1923 | Isabel Prentiss Nichols | Women's College of Delaware |
| 06/09/1924 | Thomas S. Baker | University of Delaware |
| 06/08/1925 | Henry T. Allen | University of Delaware |
| 06/07/1926 | Michael Idvorsky Pupin | University of Delaware |
| 06/13/1927 | Carl E. Milliken | University of Delaware |
| 06/11/1928 | Paul Claudel | University of Delaware |
| 06/10/1929 | Dexter S. Kimball | University of Delaware |
| 06/09/1930 | Roland Sletor Morris | University of Delaware |
| 06/08/1931 | George Pierce Baker | University of Delaware |
| 06/13/1932 | Herbert Adams Gibbons | University of Delaware |
| 06/12/1933 | Howard McClenahan | University of Delaware |
| 06/11/1934 | Josiah H. Penniman | University of Delaware |
| 06/10/1935 | Elisha Conover | University of Delaware |
| 06/08/1936 | Walter Hullihen | University of Delaware |
| 06/07/1937 | Wilbur Owen Sypherd | University of Delaware |
| 06/06/1938 | Winifred Robinson | University of Delaware |
| 06/05/1939 | George E. Dutton | University of Delaware |
| 06/03/1940 | Robert L. Spencer | University of Delaware |
| 06/09/1941 | George H. Ryden | University of Delaware |
| 06/08/1942 | Ned Bliss Allen | University of Delaware |
| 04/25/1943 | J. S. Ladd Thomas | University of Delaware |
| 12/19/1943 | Henry Smith Leiper | University of Delaware |
| 08/20/1944 | Joseph S. Gould | University of Delaware |
| 12/20/1944 | Paul Swain Havens | University of Delaware |
| 07/01/1945 | John Milton Fogg Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 06/17/1946 | Henry Seidel Canby | University of Delaware |
| 06/09/1947 | Thomas Raymond McConnell | University of Delaware |
| 06/07/1948 | Theodore C. Blegen | University of Delaware |
| 06/05/1949 | Detlev Wulf Bronk | University of Delaware |
| 06/04/1950 | William Samuel Carlson | University of Delaware |
| 06/03/1951 | Ward I. Miller | University of Delaware |
| 06/08/1952 | James Miller Tunnell Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 06/14/1953 | Albert Edmund Forster | University of Delaware |
| 09/20/1953 | Robert Silliman Hillyer | University of Delaware |
| 06/13/1954 | Bessie B. Collins | University of Delaware |
| 06/05/1955 | Alfred Hector Williams | University of Delaware |
| 06/03/1956 | Clarence A. Southerland | University of Delaware |
| 06/02/1957 | John Alanson Perkins | University of Delaware |
| 06/08/1958 | Isaac James Quillen | University of Delaware |
| 06/14/1959 | Herbert Hayman Lank | University of Delaware |
| 06/12/1960 | John Biggs Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 06/11/1961 | Wilmarth S. Lewis | University of Delaware |
| 06/10/1962 | Carl John Rees | University of Delaware |
| 06/09/1963 | James E. Webb | University of Delaware |
| 06/07/1964 | Ralph Winfred Tyler | University of Delaware |
| 06/13/1965 | Caryl Parker Haskins | University of Delaware |
| 06/12/1966 | Frederick Seitz | University of Delaware |
| 06/11/1967 | John Williams Macy Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 06/09/1968 | William Maurice Ewing | University of Delaware |
| 06/08/1969 | Elizabeth Beatty McCubbin | University of Delaware |
| 06/07/1970 | William McChesney Martin | University of Delaware |
| 05/30/1971 | Robert L. Bull | University of Delaware |
| 05/27/1972 | Sander Vanocur | University of Delaware |
| 05/26/1973 | Jacqueline G. Wexler | University of Delaware |
| 05/25/1974 | Elliot L. Richardson | University of Delaware |
| 06/07/1975 | John A. Munroe | University of Delaware |
| 06/05/1976 | Daniel L. Herrmann | University of Delaware |
| 06/04/1977 | Samuel Lenher | University of Delaware |
| 06/03/1978 | Joseph R. Biden Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 06/02/1979 | Bella S. Abzug | University of Delaware |
| 05/31/1980 | R. Buckminster Fuller | University of Delaware |
| 06/06/1981 | James R. Soles | University of Delaware |
| 06/05/1982 | Pierre S. Du Pont IV | University of Delaware |
| 06/04/1983 | Eugene V. Rostow | University of Delaware |
| 01/08/1984 | Leonard L. Williams | University of Delaware |
| 06/02/1984 | Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 01/06/1984 | Denis C. Carey | University of Delaware |
| 06/08/1985 | Ellen Goodman | University of Delaware |
| 01/05/1986 | Lodewijk Van Den Berg | University of Delaware |
| 06/01/1986 | Alex Haley | University of Delaware |
| 01/04/1987 | Thomas A. Turcol | University of Delaware |
| 05/31/1987 | Joseph R. Biden Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 01/03/1988 | James F. Kearns | University of Delaware |
| 05/29/1988 | Howard K. Smith | University of Delaware |
| 01/08/1989 | Elbert C. Wisner | University of Delaware |
| 05/28/1989 | Ed Bradley | University of Delaware |
| 01/06/1990 | Linda F. Winfield | University of Delaware |
| 05/27/1990 | Malcolm 'Steve' Forbes Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 01/05/1991 | Bruce Evans Jarrell | University of Delaware |
| 06/01/1991 | Ann Compton | University of Delaware |
| 01/04/1992 | Paula L. Gavin | University of Delaware |
| 05/30/1992 | Edwin Newman | University of Delaware |
| 01/09/1993 | Andrew M. Stern | University of Delaware |
| 05/29/1993 | Ken Burns | University of Delaware |
| 01/08/1994 | Susan Stroman | University of Delaware |
| 05/28/1994 | Thomas Clancy | University of Delaware |
| 01/07/1995 | Sue Lewis Robinson | University of Delaware |
| 05/27/1995 | Allen H. Neuharth | University of Delaware |
| 01/06/1996 | Thomas R. Carper | University of Delaware |
| 05/25/1996 | Maya Angelou | University of Delaware |
| 01/04/1997 | Ronald H. Haines | University of Delaware |
| 05/31/1997 | Georgie Anne Geyer | University of Delaware |
| 01/03/1998 | Robert V. A. Harra Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 05/30/1998 | William Raspberry | University of Delaware |
| 01/09/1999 | Charles Lewis | University of Delaware |
| 05/29/1999 | Louis J. Freeh | University of Delaware |
| 01/08/2000 | Leonard P. Stark | University of Delaware |
| 05/27/2000 | Benjamin S. Carson Sr. | University of Delaware |
| 01/06/2001 | Carol E. Hoffecker | University of Delaware |
| 05/26/2001 | David McCullough | University of Delaware |
| 01/05/2002 | Jacqueline Jones | University of Delaware |
| 05/25/2002 | Harold 'Tubby' Raymond | University of Delaware |
| 01/04/2003 | Leo Edward Strine Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 05/31/2003 | George J. Mitchell | University of Delaware |
| 01/10/2004 | Christopher J. Christie | University of Delaware |
| 05/29/2004 | Joseph R. Biden Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 01/08/2005 | Jo Anne Bryant Barnhart | University of Delaware |
| 05/28/2005 | Jeff Shaara | University of Delaware |
| 01/07/2006 | William B. Chandler III | University of Delaware |
| 05/27/2006 | Ron Chernow | University of Delaware |
| 01/06/2007 | Leonard P. Stark | University of Delaware |
| 05/26/2007 | William P. Kupper, Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 01/05/2008 | Thomas R. Carper | University of Delaware |
| 05/31/2008 | Cal Ripken, Jr. | University of Delaware |
| 01/10/2009 | Mary Patterson McPherson | University of Delaware |
