Judy Woodruff, veteran broadcast journalist who has spent over 50 years in the upper echelons of the national political media, will be the keynote speaker at Boston College Law School’s 2023 Commencement ceremony. The event will take place on Friday, May 26, in BC’s Conte Forum.
Woodruff, who recently stepped down as Anchor and Managing Editor of PBS NewsHour after eleven years at the helm, continues to serve as Senior Correspondent for the program. Her next major project, “America at a Crossroads,” will find her traveling the country to better understand the current political divide.
“I am deeply honored to have been asked to speak to the 2023 graduates of the exceptional Boston College Law School, with its storied, almost century-old history and its urgent commitment to inclusion and diversity,” Woodruff said. “I look forward to congratulating each one!”
Woodruff first rose to national prominence as a White House Correspondent for NBC News, and eventually became Chief White House Correspondent for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on PBS. After a decade with PBS, Woodruff moved to CNN, where she served as an anchor and senior correspondent for over twelve years. For her work, Woodruff has earned a Peabody Journalistic Integrity Award, the Poynter Medal, an Emmy for Lifetime Achievement, the Radcliffe Medal, and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.
“Boston College Law School is honored to welcome Judy Woodruff as our 2023 commencement speaker,” said Dean Odette Lienau. “She is a standard-bearer for the rights and principles embedded in the First Amendment and for the importance of reportorial integrity to democracy and the rule of law.”
A giant of public broadcasting, Woodruff has interviewed heads-of-state and moderated numerous presidential debates with her steady, even-tempered delivery. Most recently, she sat down with President Joe Biden for an exclusive interview after February’s State of the Union address.
BC Law, founded in 1929, will celebrate its 90th Commencement ceremony on May 26 in Conte Forum on Boston College’s Chestnut Hill campus. Past speakers include former Secretary of State John Kerry ’76, Senator Edward Markey ’76, former Chair of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd, and former US Attorney Debra Wong Yang ’85.