Hobart and William Smith Colleges will welcome acclaimed journalist, historian, and Harvard professor Nancy Gibbs as the keynote speaker for the 2025 Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 18. In addition to delivering the address, Gibbs will receive the prestigious Elizabeth Blackwell Award in recognition of her influential work in media and public discourse.
Gibbs is currently Director of the Shorenstein Center and the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice at the Harvard Kennedy School. She made history as the first woman to serve as Editor in Chief of TIME magazine and remains one of the most prolific writers in its history.
“We are honored to welcome Nancy Gibbs as our 2025 Commencement speaker and Elizabeth Blackwell Award recipient,” said HWS President Mark D. Gearan. “Her extraordinary career in journalism, public policy and academia embodies the values of critical inquiry, leadership and global engagement that we strive to instill in our students.”
The Commencement will begin at 9 a.m. on the Quad. Gibbs will be joined by five honorary degree recipients who have made lasting contributions to the Colleges and the Geneva community:
- Patrisha Blue ’77, a longtime community leader and director of the Martin Luther King Memorial Choir, honored for her work in education, housing, and cultural engagement in Geneva.
- Dr. Geoffrey Herd, internationally recognized violinist and founder of the Geneva Music Festival, noted for his innovative music programming and education outreach.
- Mary Jane M. Poole P’91, a philanthropic leader whose support has shaped key campus facilities and initiatives through the Poole Family Foundation.
- Stephen and Janet Wyckoff, Geneva-based philanthropists and trustees of the Wyckoff Family Foundation, known for championing programs in education, health, and youth literacy.
As Editor in Chief from 2013 to 2017, Gibbs led TIME through a period of digital transformation, overseeing initiatives like Red Border Films and expanding its 24/7 global news coverage. Under her leadership, TIME won a Primetime Emmy for the PBS documentary A Year in Space.
Beyond the newsroom, Gibbs has been a commentator for PBS and CBS News and co-authored the bestsellers The President’s Club and The Preacher and the Presidents. Politico once named her “The Poet Laureate of Presidents” for her insightful political analysis.
She has interviewed five U.S. presidents and lectured widely on the American presidency, bringing her expertise to institutions such as the Aspen Institute, the National Archives, and several presidential libraries. A summa cum laude graduate of Yale and a Marshall Scholar at Oxford, Gibbs has taught at Princeton, Yale, and now Harvard.
Her address is expected to inspire HWS graduates as they embark on their own paths, drawing on her decades of experience at the intersection of media, leadership, and civic engagement.
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