Walter Isaacson, former chairman and CEO of CNN and editor of Time Magazine, will deliver the 2018 commencement address May 12 in the Grove.
Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter invited Isaacson to give the address because of his relationship with the university and his credentials as a journalist. Isaacson’s history with Ole Miss began when he participated in the university’s 2016 tech summit.
In a statement to the University of Mississippi News, Isaacson praised the university for its work over the years and said he is glad to serve as the commencement speaker.
“I’m pleased because the university has been at the forefront of making Mississippi and the South a better place,” Isaacson said. “I admire the innovation the university is doing in cross-disciplinary studies. And I enjoy spending time in the real Oxford.”
Provost Noel Wilkin said he is pleased with Vitter’s choice and thinks Isaacson can offer “perspectives of value” to the graduates. He said the chancellor typically receives input from senior leaders on campus and compiles a list of potential speakers before selecting one.
“I am pleased that Walter Isaacson will address our graduates at this year’s commencement ceremony,” Wilkin said. “His success, and his work to outline the lives and successes of these individuals, will help all of us appreciate the roles that human effort and creativity play in great accomplishments.”
Ryan Whittington, Ole Miss Communications marketing and brand strategy director, said the chancellor consulted with senior leadership and wanted to select someone who would continue the history of powerful commencement speakers.
“As an institution grounded in a strong liberal arts foundation, it is important to provide our graduating students with opportunities to hear insight and knowledge from such extraordinary individuals,” Whittington said. “(Isaacson’s) familiarity with the UM community lends itself to a message focused on the importance of creativity and innovation in cross-disciplinary studies that will resonate with the commencement audience.”
Many students were also pleased with the administration’s choice in inviting Isaacson to deliver the remarks. Brady Ruffin, a senior integrated marketing communications major and former director of Student Activities Association, said a commencement speaker should be able to excite members of the graduating class as they are about to enter the “real world,” and he thinks Isaacson will accomplish this goal.
“An alumnus of Harvard, Mr. Isaacson has been able to work with some incredible media outlets and think tanks while writing many biographies of some incredible people,” Ruffin said. “I think Mr. Isaacson will be able to leave the graduating class of 2018 with some parting words of wisdom, to motivate us to be contributing citizens to society as we enter the next season of life.”
Isaacson was born in New Orleans and is a graduate of Harvard College and Pembroke College of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is also a professor of history at Tulane University and the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute based in Washington, D.C. He has written biographies on Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Henry Kissinger.
