Commencement Speakers Announced: Clarkson, Clayton State, College of Charleston, Hartwick, Hood, Lynn, Macalester, Montclair State, Shenandoah, Spelman, Virginia Commonwealth, Whitworth

The following colleges and universities have announced their commencement speakers for spring 2012:

• Clarkson University: David G. Nathan, president emeritus of  the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Radovan Stanislav Pejovnik, rector of the University of Ljubljana, in Slovenia; and George C. Schatz, the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry and of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University.
• Clayton State University: Andrew Young, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
• College of Charleston: Arlinda Locklear, a lawyer who has been an advocate for Indian tribes.
• Hartwick College: Kathy Ordoñez, senior vice president for discovery and development at Quest Diagnostics and president of Celera.
• Hood College: Bill Strickland, president and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation.
• Lynn University: Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation.
• Macalester College: Jack Weatherford, DeWitt Wallace Professor of Anthropology at the college.
• Montclair State University: Victoria Reggie Kennedy, a lawyer and president of the Board of Trustees of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
• Shenandoah University: Nikki Giovanni, the poet, author and professor at Virginia Tech.
• Spelman College: Oprah Winfrey, the media magnate.
• Virginia Commonwealth University: J.C. Watts Jr., former U.S. congressman from Oklahoma
• Whitworth University: Jena Lee Nardella, co-founder of Blood:Water Mission.