Last May, a member of Colgate’s Class of 2012 captured the moment.
Duncan L. Niederauer ’81, chief executive officer of NYSE Euronext, will deliver the keynote address at Colgate’s 192nd commencement on Sunday, May 19, in Sanford Field House.
Throughout his career, Niederauer has played a pivotal role in leading the evolution of global markets. Before joining NYSE Euronext in April 2007, he was managing director and co-head of the Equities Division Execution Services franchise at Goldman, Sachs & Co. His career at Goldman Sachs spanned 22 years.
After graduating from Colgate cum laude with a degree in economics, Niederauer earned an MBA from Emory University. He serves on several boards and is involved in many charity efforts, most notably his advocacy for autism awareness. He and his wife, Alison, are the co-chairs of the Newmark School’s “Destination of Promise” campaign, which is building a state-of-the art-school in New Jersey for children with autism and related disabilities.
His current board service includes the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, Operation Hope, the American Ireland Fund, and the Partnership for New York City. He has also served on Colgate’s Alumni Council and Board of Trustees.
The baccalaureate speaker will be The Very Reverend Dr. Jane Shaw, dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Prior to her move to San Francisco in 2010, Shaw served as dean of divinity and fellow of New College, University of Oxford, and taught history and theology at Oxford for 16 years. She is the author of three books, including the prize-winning Octavia Daughter of God: The Story of a Female Messiah. She is also currently a visiting scholar at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.
Both Niederauer and Shaw will receive honorary degrees during commencement. The other honorary degree recipients will be:
- Jeff Fager ’77 P’06, chairman of CBS News and executive producer of 60 Minutes — Fager rose from production assistant at the CBS Boston affiliate to the top of a news organization he is credited with remaking on all levels, including growing revenue online, journalism’s new frontier. He successfully reshaped 60 Minutes, now in its 45th season and still the most-watched and most-honored news program in history.
- Jill Lepore, David Woods Kemper Professor of American history at Harvard University and staff writer for The New Yorker — Lepore is author of many books including New York Burning, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History and winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Award for the best non-fiction book about race. Book of Ages, her landmark biography of Benjamin Franklin’s sister, will be published in September.
- Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO, founder, and president of Chobani — In just five years, Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant, has grown his central New York-based company to become the best-selling yogurt brand in America and a model of entrepreneurship, grass-roots community building, and philanthropy.
For more information, visit www.colgate.edu/commencement.