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№ 2020.002 — Stanford University — Commencement keynote
France A. Córdova
Astrophysicist and higher-education leader
France Córdova, a Stanford alumna and former National Science Foundation director, addresses the Class of 2020 at their delayed 2022 ceremony, reflecting on how the pandemic reshaped their college years and praising their resilience. She recounts her own winding path from English major and wanderer to astrophysicist, explaining how her humanities education informed her scientific career. She encourages graduates to remain open to unexpected paths, embrace their unique backgrounds, and pursue their passions while recognizing that real life develops within them through varied experiences.
Key moments
- 01 Acknowledging the disrupted college experience of the pandemic-era Class of 2020
- 02 Sharing her own delayed graduation and post-college years of travel and varied jobs
- 03 Describing her discovery of science and decision to become a physicist
- 04 Connecting humanities study with scientific inquiry and advocating diversity and inclusion in science
- 05 Advising graduates to vector into the unknown and bring their whole selves to their work
Visual speech map
France A. Cordova at Stanford, 2020
A commencement address about resilience, unexpected paths, science, humanities, and bringing your whole self.
- 01 Disrupted class
- 02 Delayed ceremony
- 03 Travel years
- 04 English major
- 05 Astrophysics
- 06 Humanities plus science
- 07 Inclusion
- 08 Unknown vector
Context
A class interrupted
Córdova honors a class whose college experience was reshaped by pandemic disruption and delayed celebration.
The class carries a different kind of endurance.
The delayed ceremony becomes a ritual of persistence.
Lost normalcy becomes part of the story of strength.
Path
The indirect route
Her own delayed graduation, travel, and varied jobs become evidence that life can gather coherence slowly.
Movement and odd jobs become education.
A non-linear path is still a path.
Experience can reveal a deeper vocation.
Integration
Humanities inside science
The speech links English, curiosity, and astrophysics to argue that broad education strengthens scientific imagination.
Language and interpretation shape inquiry.
Physics opens a cosmic scale of questioning.
Background and breadth belong inside the work.
Charge
Vector into the unknown
Graduates are urged to bring their full identities, pursue passion, and enter uncertain futures with courage.
Science and society need many kinds of minds.
Follow questions that keep unfolding.
Move into uncertainty with direction, not certainty.
Transcript
The full transcript is hosted by the original publisher. Commencement Archive links to the source rather than republishing copyrighted text.
Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
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