Chu to Speak at Commencement

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will be the principal speaker at Commencement on June 4.

Steven Chu

The University announced today that U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will be the principal speaker at Commencement, on the afternoon of June 4. The official news announcement is available here. Chu shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics; his work is described on the Nobel website here and here.

Thus, a year that began with Al Gore '69, LL.D. '94, focusing campus attention on global warming and energy conservation will close on a similar note. As energy secretary, Chu will be the Obama administration's point person for alternative and renewable energy policy, as part of a broader agenda on climate change. 

Related topics

You might also like

New Faculty Deans Announced for Currier House

Education professor Nancy Hill and her husband Rendall Howell will start their roles in July.

Mark Carney on the Limits of Soft Power

At the 2026 Davos summit, the Canadian prime minister echoes Harvard’s Joseph Nye.

Are Creators the Future of Democracy?

A Harvard panel considers how “parasocial relationships” might drive democratic engagement.

Most popular

Why Men Are Falling Behind in Education, Employment, and Health

Can new approaches to education address a growing gender gap?

Getting to Mars (for Real)

Humans have been dreaming of living on the Red Planet for decades. Harvard researchers are on the case.

Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts teaches the value of immersive attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

Explore More From Current Issue

Man in a suit holding a pen, smiling, seated at a desk with a soft background.

A Congenial Voice in Japanese-American Relations

Takashi Komatsu spent his life building bridges. 

A jubilant graduate shouts into a megaphone, surrounded by a cheering crowd.

For Campus Speech, Civility is a Cultural Practice

A former Harvard College dean reviews Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber’s book Terms of Respect.

Black and white photo of a large mushroom cloud rising above the horizon.

Open Book: A New Nuclear Age

Harvard historian Serhii Plokhy’s latest book looks at the rising danger of a new arms race.