Penegor is the keynote for the master's degree ceremony on Dec. 18. Tienda, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University will address doctoral degree recipients at 2 p.m. on Dec. 18.

Green will address baccalaureate degree recipients at 10 a.m. on Dec. 19.

“I am incredibly proud of these students for not only completing their degrees but doing so under such difficult circumstances,” President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. said in a release. “It is fitting to have three highly accomplished alumni serving as our keynote speakers. They remind us of the impact we can have on the world as Spartans.” 

Penegor, a 1989 alumnus who received a bachelors of arts in accounting and an MBA in finance from MSU, became the CEO of The Wendy's Co. in 2016 after joining the organization in 2013 as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Green, a Saginaw, Michigan, native, is a current member of the Golden State Warriors. Green led the MSU men's basketball program to two Final Fours and a Big Ten Tournament title in 2012.

Green is also a three-time NBA All-Star and NBA champion who is widely considered one of the better all-around players in the NBA.

Tienda joined the faculty at Princeton in 1997; she graduated with a bachelors of arts in Spanish in 1972 from MSU.

Tienda’s research has focused on the demography of racial and ethnic inequality, social policy and international migration. In addition to lecturing about underinvestment in public education, she directed a decade-long study focused on equity and access to higher education.

This is the second group of MSU graduates to attend commencement virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MSU's spring class of 2020's commencement ceremony was also postponed at the start of the statewide outbreak in March.