Five inspiring graduation commencement speeches that cover the intersection of technology and innovation in higher education

graduation-commencement-speechThe graduation ceremony. That special time of year and right of passage for college graduates.

This confirmation of hard work (and some fun along the way) typically results with students entering the workforce or continuing education in graduate school.

The graduation ceremony is a time for celebration, reflection, and anticipation for students to embark on a new phase in their lives. Do you remember your commencement speech, and what impact did it have on your academic journey?

In this article, you’ll find five of the greatest commencement speeches ever given that are both inspiring and cover the intersection of technology and innovation in higher education.

Did one of your favorite speeches not make the list? Tell us why by sharing your views in the comments section below and by following me on Twitter @Michael_eSM.

(Next page: 1-3 greatest commencement videos)

1. Melinda Gates’ Graduation Speech at Duke University

On May 12, 2013, Melinda Gates, cofounder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, addressed Duke University about the evolution of computers and the way in which we communicate. “The personal computer and later the internet really started a communications revolution,” says Melinda, noting that technology by itself cannot solve all our problems. However it can and should be used to “make the world bigger.”

Advocating entrepreneurship in innovation and education, Melinda recalls spending countless hours in university buildings  “coding away, seeing who could write the most efficient code… I think you probably call it today a ‘hackathon.’ Whoever lost that contest would have to go down the hall and touch the ‘mutant frogs’ being grown by the biology department.”

Watch the full speech here.

2. Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

On June 12, 2005, CEO and co-founder of Apple Steve Jobs delivered an inspirational commencement speech in which he affectionately quotes American writer Stewart Brand’s idealistic slogan, “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Jobs candidly states that dropping out of Reed College after the first six months was one of his best life decisions.

“The minute I dropped out, I could stop taking the required classes which did not interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.” He sat in on a calligraphy course which proved invaluable when designing the Macintosh computer ten years later.

“If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would never have had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.”

Watch the full clip here.

3. Salman Khan 2012 MIT commencement speech

Named by TIME Magazine as one of the hundred most influential people on the planet, on June 8, 2012, Sal Khan, founder of the online education platform Khan Academy, gave the commencement speech at MIT.

“Some of you might remember in the late 90s when the first internet boom was happening, there was a lot of talk about online education. Most of the conversation back then about online education was around how to profit from it, or some institutions were thinking about how to defend against it.”

In 2001 MIT launched Open CourseWare with the belief that the dissemination of knowledge should be free and easily accessible, and this had a profound impact on Khan who at the time was working in a tech company in California.

Khan optimistically concludes his speech stating “The positive revolutions will not be caused by the politicians and generals, but the innovators like you.”

Watch the full speech here.

4. Thomas Friedman, Grinnell College Commencement 2009

On May 18, 2009, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman gave an impassioned speech at Grinnell College about the need for Generation Y to reinvent and reengage to make America great again.

Speaking at the height of the nation’s subprime mortgage crisis, Friedman opines that “The only way a society advances is by inventing things that satisfy people’s wants and needs. Like a computer or a new form of energy. Or creating things to satisfy needs you never knew you had, like the need to ‘Google’ or listen to music on an iPod.”

Watch part 1, part 2 and part 3.

5. Barack Obama at Arizona State University, 2009

President Barack Obama delivered a speech in 2009 at ASU as the United States faced deep economic uncertainty. Obama highlights that no matter what profession we choose, we should not be complacent. “Professors might earn the distinction of tenure but that doesn’t guarantee that they will keep putting in the long hours and late nights and have the passion and the drive to be great educators.”

The great American dream is that young people who follow their passions can change the course of history. “It’s what led two guys in a garage, named Hewlett and Packard, to form a company that would change the way we live and work.”

Watch President Obama’s full speech here.

Editor’s note: While not specifically related to ed-tech, here are two inspirational and humorous speeches.

Oprah, 2013 Harvard

Internationally acclaimed media mogul Oprah Winfrey gave a heartfelt speech at Harvard’s 2013 graduation and said, “The challenge of life I have found is to build a resume that doesn’t simply tell a story about what you want to be, but it’s a story about who you want to be. It’s a resume that doesn’t just tell a story about what you want to accomplish, but why.”

Stephen Colbert Northwestern 2011

Political satirist and television star Stephen Colbert was invited to speak at Northwestern in 2011 and had this to say about the university’s facilities: “Northwestern’s academic resources are unparalleled. The library contains 5 million books and 100,000 periodicals. None of which anyone reads because they are not on an iPad.”

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