Institution
Yale University Commencement Speeches
27 addresses catalogued from 2000-2026, with links to original sources, videos, transcripts, summaries, and visual speech maps where available.
Featured speeches
High-signal entries
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a Yale School of Medicine alumnus, tells the graduating class that the most important predictor of health and happiness is strong relationships, citing his advisory on loneliness and...
Reshma Saujani, a Yale Law graduate and founder of Girls Who Code, delivered Yale's 2022 Class Day address, urging graduates to value advocacy and the American tradition of agitating for change. She reframed President...
Chimamanda Adichie reflects on her time as a graduate student at Yale and offers graduates advice on navigating uncertainty, contradictions, and the responsibilities of power. She urges them to define what America sho...
In her 2018 Yale Class Day address, Hillary Clinton urged graduates to draw on resilience as they enter what she called one of the most tumultuous times in American history. She reflected on her own ties to Yale and h...
Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the UN and Yale '92 alumna, opens with self-deprecating humor before reflecting on her own mediocre early years at Yale and the moments—a professor's harsh critique and watching the...
All speeches
Timeline
2026
Novelist and essayist / Speaker / Class of 2026
2025
Former prime minister of New Zealand / Speaker / Class of 2025
2024
U.S. Surgeon General / Speaker / Class of 2024
2023
Poet, educator, and cultural advocate / Speaker / Class of 2023
2022
Advocate for women and girls / Speaker / Class of 2022
2021
Songwriter (EGOT winner); Yale College Class of 1997 / Speaker / Class of 2021
2020
Scientific researcher and gene-therapy pioneer / Speaker / Class of 2020
2019
Novelist and nonfiction writer / Speaker / Class of 2019
2018
Former secretary of state, senator, and first lady / Speaker / Class of 2018
2017
Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations / Speaker / Class of 2017
2016
U.S. representative to the United Nations / Speaker / Class of 2016
2015
47th vice president of the United States / Speaker / Class of 2015
2014
U.S. secretary of state / Speaker / Class of 2014
2013
Mayor of Newark, New Jersey / Speaker / Class of 2013
2012
Television journalist / Speaker / Class of 2012
2011
Actor / Speaker / Class of 2011
2010
42nd president of the United States / Speaker / Class of 2010
2009
Author / Speaker / Class of 2009
2008
Former prime minister of the United Kingdom / Speaker / Class of 2008
2007
Editor of Newsweek International; author and columnist / Speaker / Class of 2007
2006
CNN anchor; Yale College Class of 1989 / Speaker / Class of 2006
2005
U.S. Delegate for the District of Columbia; Yale M.A. 1963, J.D. 1964 / Speaker / Class of 2005
2004
Documentary filmmaker / Speaker / Class of 2004
2003
Foreign-affairs columnist, The New York Times; three-time Pulitzer Prize winner / Speaker / Class of 2003
2002
Governor of New York; Yale College Class of 1967 / Speaker / Class of 2002
2001
U.S. Senator from New York; Yale Law School Class of 1973 / Speaker / Class of 2001
2000
Associate editor, The Washington Post; Yale College Class of 1965 / Speaker / Class of 2000