New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson will deliver the keynote at Barnard’s commencement this May, the college announced on Monday.
Abramson became the first woman to hold the top editorial position at the Times in September, when she replaced Bill Keller. Abramson has spent 15 years at the Times, previously serving as managing editor and Washington bureau chief.
“From her early days as a reporter to her current post as the paper’s executive editor, she has been unfailing in her convictions and a true inspiration,” Barnard President Debora Spar said in a statement. “I am certain that our graduates will be energized by her words and personal story.”
Abramson has also worked at the Wall Street Journal, where she was the deputy Washington bureau chief, and Time magazine, where she covered the 1976 presidential election.
Barnard students said it would be exciting to have Abramson at commencement, especially as a woman who has reached the pinnacle of her profession.
“I think it will be interesting to hear what she has to say about being a young woman in the city and how to make it all the way to the top,” Ellen Watkins, BC ’14, said. “Because she’s really at the top.”
Emma Goidel, BC ’12, was not familiar with Abramson before receiving the email announcing her as commencement speaker. But Goidel said she liked what she read about her.
“I’m excited. I’m glad that it’s someone who is successful but is not a celebrity, and I think that’s a job a lot of Barnard students might aspire to,” Goidel said. “Hearing her thoughts about how to move through a career path as a woman in New York is probably going to be interesting. I think she’ll be really inspiring.”
“I’m sure there’s so many women here who feel, ‘That’s the job I want,’ and to see her speak and get her advice, that will be really special,” Goidel added.
Natalie Jung, BC ’14, said that getting the Times’ top editor as a commencement speaker was impressive.
“The New York Times gets read by all of America and all of the world, really, so if she’s the principal editor it’s showing women of power,” Jung said. “It says a lot for Barnard that she accepted the invitation.”
At the May 14 commencement ceremony, Abramson will receive the Barnard Medal of Distinction, as will Barnard chemistry professor Sally Chapman, CARE USA president Helene Gayle, BC ’76, and Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson.
Abramson’s mother, Dovie Abramson, graduated from Barnard in 1939. Abramson, a New York native, went to high school in the Bronx and earned her B.A. from Harvard in 1976.
Last year, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was Barnard's commencement speaker.
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