Carnegie Corporation President To Deliver 2025 Commencement Address

Dame Louise Richardson, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, will deliver Boston College’s 2025 commencement address on May 19, the University announced.

“Richardson became the first female president of Carnegie Corporation of New York in January 2023, assuming leadership of a foundation—founded by industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1911—renowned for establishing and endowing initiatives such as the United States National Research Council, National Bureau of Economic Research, and Children’s Television Workshop,” the University release reads.

At the ceremony, University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., will present Richardson with an honorary degree, according to the release.

A first-generation college graduate, Richardson earned her Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University and served as vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford from 2016 to 2022. 

Richardson has devoted much of her career to the study of international terrorism and foreign policy. During her tenure at Oxford, she was widely praised for her advocacy for minority rights and expanding access to higher education.

“For more than three decades, she has researched and written about international terrorism and foreign policy, advocating interdisciplinary approaches to study the political roots of extremism as an alternative to military-led responses,” the release reads. “At Oxford, she was lauded for defending freedom of speech, pursuing sustainability, and advancing racial equality.”

In January 2023, Richardson was named the first female president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. 

In her remarks as incoming president, she emphasized the importance of expanding philanthropy during a time of democratic fragility.

“It is a great privilege and an even greater responsibility for us today to use Andrew Carnegie’s wealth wisely to achieve the immutable objective of improving the world around us,” she wrote.

In addition to Richardson, the University will award honorary degrees to Geoffrey Canada, an educator and social activist ; Rev. Salim Daccache, S.J., rector of Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Lebanon; Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin; and Richard Henning, archbishop of Boston.