U.N. Development Programme Administrator Mark Malloch Brown will speak to advanced degree candidates during commencement activities Dec. 6, and Eli Broad will lead MSU's graduation ceremony Dec. 7 at Breslin Center.
Joining Broad at the 10 a.m. ceremony will be supply chain management senior Christine Altimore, while Focus: HOPE Chief Executive Officer Eleanor M. Josaitis and advertising senior Sharone Senk will kick off the 2 p.m. Dec. 7 gala.
Broad is responsible for establishing the Broad Foundation and the Broad Art Foundation. The MSU school of business also is named after him.
Brown, who also served as vice president for external affairs and U.N. affairs of the World Bank, currently works with the United Nations on decreasing the world's poverty rate and democratic governments in developing countries.
"I've known Mark for a long time," President M. Peter McPherson said. "MSU has been involved in international economic and social issues, and it will be great to have him on campus."
Josaitis is a co-founder of Focus: HOPE, which began after the 1967 Detroit riots, and aims to combat racism, poverty and injustice.
At the ceremony, there will be about 2,500 graduates, with the College of Communication Arts and Sciences leading at 294.
"My education has been a part of my success," said Broad, who graduated from MSU in 1954 with a bachelor's degree in accounting and a minor in economics. "My message can hopefully give something back."
His message will focus on how the world has changed since the '50s, when industrial, not information, skills were required. The chairman of AIG SunAmerica Inc., a company specializing in retirement savings and investments, said he also will focus on how Americans need to improve the nation's K-12 education system.
"Although we have the best system of higher education in the world, we have the weakest K-12 education of developing countries," Broad said. "If we're going to close the gap between the poor and middle classes, we need to educate them."
Most Americans get their clothes and shoes from other countries, so the need for American jobs is dwindling, he said. Broad also said the job market for graduates is uncertain.
"I think it is a tougher job market with a weaker economy, but I think graduates that are hard workers will do well," he said. "I've always believed the harder you work, the luckier you get. I think people might have to take their jobs more seriously."
Brown, who also has served as vicRepresenting the senior class will be Altimore and Senk, who both beat eight other applicants. The 10 candidates were interviewed, and the Senior Class Council Commencement Committee picked its winners.
"Christine and Sharone just stood out," committee co-chairperson Heather Stowe said. "You want to pick someone who has the best speech and has a message."
Senk said she is excited to be representing her class and graduates will have to work harder to obtain jobs.
"You have to be the best of the bunch," she said. "I think State students are pretty well off because they work their asses off."
