| 2019 |
David L. Warren, Ph.D., Doctor of Human Letters
President, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
Commencement Speaker
Michael Mirra, Doctor of Laws
Executive Director, Tacoma Housing Authority
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| 2018 |
Sally Jewell, Doctor of Science
U.S. Secretary of the Interior, 2013–17; former president and CEO of outdoor retailer REI
Commencement Speaker
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| 2017 |
Timothy Egan, Doctor of Humane Letters
Writer, Reporter, Columnist
Commencement Speaker
Fred D. Gray, Doctor of Laws
Civil Rights Activist and Attorney
Georgiana Kautz, Doctor of Science
Natural Resource Manager for the Nisqually Indian Tribe
|
| 2016 |
Derek Kilmer, Doctor of Laws
U.S. Representative, Washington's 6th Congressional District
Commencement Speaker
Carla Santorno, Doctor of Humane Letters
Superintendent of the Tacoma Public Schools
Jeffrey Brotman, Doctor of Business
Chairman of the Board, Costco Wholesale Corporation
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| 2015 |
Carolyn Hessler-Radelet, Doctor of Humane Letters
Director of the Peace Corps
Commencement Speaker
Theresa Pan Hosley, Doctor of Humane Letters
President of the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation
Steven C. González, Doctor of Laws
Washington Supreme Court Justice
|
| 2014 |
Rachel Martin ’96, Doctor of Humane Letters
Host of National Public Radio Weekend Edition
Commencement Speaker
Amitav Ghosh, Doctor of Humane Letters
Writer
Mark C. Pigott, Doctor of Fine Arts
Business Leader and Philanthropist
James L. Walton, Doctor of Laws
Civil Rights Activist and past Tacoma City Manager
|
| 2013 |
Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., Doctor of Humane Letters
Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Stanford University
Commencement Speaker
Norman Dicks, Doctor of Laws
Former Washington State Representative
Debbie Regala ’68, Doctor of Laws
Washington State Senator
|
| 2012 |
Jane Lubchenco, Doctor of Science
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Administrator of NOAA
Commencement Speaker
Ruth Purtilo, Doctor of Humane Letters
Professor Emerita in Ethics, MA General Hospital Institute of Health Professions
Dennis Flannigan '61, Doctor of Laws
Citizen Activist, Former WA State Representative
|
| 2011 |
Cecilia Muñoz, Doctor of Laws
Deputy Assistant to the President and White House and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
Commencement Speaker
Helen Engle, Doctor of Science
Co-founder of the Tahoma Audubon Society and Tacoma Mountaineers
Thelma Gilmur, Doctor of Science
Co-founder of the Tahoma Audubon Society and Tacoma Mountaineers
|
| 2010 |
Scott Jackson '80, Doctor of Humane Letters
Vice President, PATH
Commencement Speaker
Barrie F. Wilcox '62, Doctor of Business
Co-owner, Wilcox Farms
James T. Wilcox '59, Doctor of Business
Co-owner, Wilcox Farms
Preston L. Singletary, Doctor of Arts
Artist, Sculptor
|
| 2009 |
Philip Mangano, Doctor of Humane Letters
Executive Director, Interagency Council on Homelessness
Commencement Speaker
Japanese American Students of 1941-42, College of Puget Sound,
Bachelor of Arts
Harold Moss, Doctor of Laws
Civil Rights Leader, Former Mayor of Tacoma & Chair of the Pierce County Council
|
| 2008 |
Gifford Pinchot III, Doctor of Laws
President, Bainbridge Graduate Institute
Commencement Speaker
Irshad Manji, Doctor of Humane Letters
Author, Scholar
Gordon Klatt, Doctor of Humane Letters
Founder, Relay for Life, Surgeon |
| 2007 |
Elizabeth M. Cousens '87, Doctor of International Affairs
Vice President of the International Peace Academy in New York
Commencement Speaker
Sheila Evans Widnall, Doctor of Science
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1993 appointed Secretary of the Air Force.
Kathleen Ross, Doctor of Education
Current and founding president of Heritage University
David L. Nicandri, Doctor of History
Director of the Washington Historical Society
|
| 2006 |
William H. Neukom P'94, Doctor of Laws
Chair of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, president-elect nominee of the Am. Bar Assoc., former chief legal counsel for Microsoft
Commencement Speaker
Wilbur H. Goss '32, P'63, Doctor of Science
Scientist & Ret. Dir. of John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Dr. Goss died one week before he was awarded this Honorary Degree. His son, Barry Goss accepted on his behalf.
Rosa G. Franklin '68, Doctor of Public Service
First African-American woman elected to the WA State Senate
William J. Bichsel, S.J., Doctor of Humanitarian Service
Catholic priest, social activist |
| 2005 |
Gary Locke, Doctor of Laws
Former governor, State of Washington
Commencement Speaker
Lyle Quasim '70, Doctor of Humane Letters
Public servant, volunteer, and activist
Robert E. Craves, Doctor of Humane Letters
Washington Education Foundation
Steven W. Boutelle, Doctor of Laws
General, United States Army
|
| 2004 |
Denis A. Hayes, Doctor of Humane Letters
Founded the first Earth Day in 1970, President of the Bullitt Foundation
Commencement Speaker
Billy Frank, Jr., Doctor of Laws
Elder of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, Chairman of the NW Indian Fisheries Commission
Ellsworth C. & Nancy Alvord, Doctor of Humanitarian Service
Professor emeritus, UW School of Medicine
|
| 2003 |
James Mackenzie Fallows, Doctor of Humane Letters
National Correspondent , The Atlantic Monthly
Commencement Speaker
William Masami Kaneko '83, Doctor of Laws
President & CEO, Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs
Janet Bogue '75, Doctor of Laws
U.S. Foreign Service; speechwriter for Secretary of State
|
| 2002 |
Lee Cullum, Doctor of Humane Letters
Author, journalist, columnist; foreign relations
Commencement Speaker
Ronald Rau '41, Doctor of Humane Letters
Physicist
Marie Helmer '31, Doctor of Education
Teacher for 40 years
Sam and Nathalie Brown, Doctors of Humanitarian Service
Community volunteers; co-founders/trustees Charles Wright
|
| 2001 |
A. Richard Turner, Doctor of Humanities
Paulette Goddard Professor Emeritus of Art and Humanities New York University
Freda Amelia Herseth '77, Doctor Humanitarian Service
Associate Professor of Voice, University of Michigan
William H. Gates, Sr., Doctor of Humanitarian Service
Co-Chair and CEO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
|
| 2000 |
Shashi Tharoor, Doctor of Letters in International Affairs
Director of Communication and Special Projects, Office of the UN Secretary-General
Commencement Speaker
Ramona Bennett, Doctor of Public Affairs
Director, Rainbow Youth and Family Services
Dennis W. Bakke '68, Doctor of Humanitarian Service
Co-founder, President and CEO, The AES Corporation
|
| 1999 |
Roberta A. Katz, Doctor of Laws
Senior VP, Secretary, General Counsel of Netscape Communications Corporation
Commencement Speaker
Robert B. Pamplin, Jr., Doctor of Public Service
President, R. B. Pamplin Corporation Lake Oswego, Oregon
Ralph W. Franklin '59, Doctor of Humane Letters
Director, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
|
| 1998 |
Franklin D. Raines, Doctor of Laws
Director, Office of Management, The White House Former Puget Sound Trustee
Commencement Speaker
William W. Philip, Doctor of Public Service
President and Chief Executive Officer, Columbia Bank, Tacoma, WA
Terry J. Castle '75, Doctor of Humane Letters
Walter A. Haas Professor in Humanities and Chair of the English Dept., Stanford University
|
| 1997 |
Freeman J. Dyson, Doctor of Humane Letters
Professor Emeritus of Physics, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Commencement Speaker
Darryl N. Johnson '72, Doctor of Laws
U.S. Ambassador, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan
Mutsuko Miki, Doctor of Arts
Wife of the late Takeo Miki, Prime Minister of Japan United Nations Woman Association
|
| 1996 |
William B. Blakemore, Doctor of Humane Letters
ABC News Correspondent
Commencement Speaker
Daniel J. Evans, Doctor of Liberal Arts
Former Washington Governor, Evergreen State College President, and U.S. Senator
Ahmad Rashad, Doctor of Journalism
Former Minnesota Viking football player, NBC Sports Broadcast Journalist
Bishop Calvin D. McConnell, Doctor of Laws
Resident Bishop, Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church
Judith Hagerty Arron, Doctor of Music
Executive Director and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
|
| 1995 |
Leon E. Panetta, Doctor of Humane Letters
White House Chief of Staff
Commencement Speaker
Frank H. Russell, Doctor of Humanitarian Service
President/CEO, Professional Services Unified, Inc.
Guzver Yildiran '69, Doctor of Philosophy
Professor and Chair, Dept.of Educational Business, Bogazici University in Istanbul
|
| 1994 |
Stanley N. Katz, Doctor of Humane Letters
President, American Council of Learned Societies
Commencement Speaker
Elbert W. Baker, Doctor of Public Service
Publisher Emeritus, The News Tribune
|
| 1993 |
Charles W. Johnson, '76 J.D., Doctor of Laws
Justice of the Washington Supreme Court
Commencement Speaker
Karen Brazell, Doctor of Literature
Professor of Japanese Literature and Theatre, Cornell University
Commencement Speaker
Robert and Genevieve Trimble '37, Doctors of Philosophy
Philanthropists
Cecilia Svinth Carpenter, Doctor of Humane Letters
Northwest writer, historian, and cultural preservationist
|
| 1992 |
Dr. William J. Campbell, Doctor of Science
Chief of the Ice and Climate Project, U.S. Geological Survey at UPS
Commencement Speaker
Ruth M. Adams, Doctor of Liberal Arts
President Emerita of Wellesley College
Speight Jenkins, Doctor of Music
General Director of the Seattle Opera
Gwen Phibbs, Doctor of Humane Letters
Wife of President Emeritus Phibbs
|
| 1991 |
Betty Jeanne Hash, Doctor of Humanitarian Service
Former Director, Pierce County United Way Volunteer Center
Gerard Schwarz, Doctor of Music
Seattle Symphony Music Director
J.R. Simplot, Doctor of Science in Commerce
Founder/Chairman J.R. Simplot Co., Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Administrator of NOAA
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