Extraordinary Spartan alumni will help celebrate the accomplishments of more than 9,200 Michigan State University graduates during the university’s commencement ceremonies on May 6.
MSU’s spring 2022 commencement will return to the pre-COVID pandemic format and will not require masks or have capacity restrictions — thanks, in large part, to the tens of thousands of Spartans on campus who have been vaccinated and boosted.
Linda Hubbard (B.A. Accounting ’82), Carhartt Inc. president and chief operating officer
MSU alumna and Carhartt Inc. president and chief operating officer Linda Hubbard (B.A. Accounting ’82) will help kick off the graduation season at 9 a.m., addressing the master’s and educational specialist degree recipients. She will receive an honorary doctoral degree in business.
At 1 p.m., all-time leading MSU scorer, first-round NBA draft pick and Olympic gold medalist Steve Smith will address undergraduate degree recipients during their convocation and receive an honorary doctoral degree in education. Concluding university commencement ceremonies at 3 p.m., Ronald Goldsberry, a U.S. Army captain and former Ford Motor Co. executive, will address doctoral recipients and receive an honorary doctoral degree in science.
Past commencement speakers will also join the ceremonies for presentation of their honorary degrees in person. From the Broad College, this includes Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor (B.A. Accounting ’87, MBA ’89), who spoke at the fall 2020 virtual commencement.
On May 7, Broad’s college-level ceremony will take place at 4 p.m., where Workiva and Grand River Solutions founder Jerome Behar (B.A. Accounting and Information Systems ’79) will address business undergraduates. The college will also recognize two alumni for their achievements: Mala Kashyap (B.A. Economics ’03, Master’s of Human Resources and Labor Relations ’07), senior director of HR mergers and acquisitions at Honeywell, and Blake Kreuger (B.A. General Business Administration ’75), chair, president and CEO of Wolverine Worldwide.
Ceremonies begin on May 5 and continue through May 14. All ceremonies will be held at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center, 534 Birch Road, or the Wharton Center Great Hall, 750 E. Shaw Lane. The events will be live-streamed and can be watched via MSU’s commencement website. Twitter users are invited to follow them using #SpartansWill.
To read more about other speakers for MSU’s 2022 commencement ceremonies, visit msutoday.msu.edu.
