New York City mayor will address 2011 graduates in May.
Michael R. Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, will address George Washington University graduates at Commencement next spring on the National Mall.
Mayor Bloomberg will speak to an estimated 25,000 graduates and guests and receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service on May 15.
“Michael Bloomberg has an extraordinary record of achievement as a public servant, philanthropist and business leader,” says GW President Steven Knapp. “He is also an inspiring speaker, and we are honored that he has accepted our invitation to address the class of 2011.”
Mayor Bloomberg has achieved world prominence as a civic, business and philanthropic leader. He was elected in 2002 and has served as mayor of New York City for the last nine years. The mayor and his administration have cut crime more than 30 percent, turned around the nation’s largest school district by injecting standards and accountability and decreased the unemployment rate.
Education has been a main priority for Mayor Bloomberg’s philanthropy. His record of achievement as mayor includes reforming the city’s school system, increasing graduation rates by more than 25 percent and raising reading and math scores to record levels.
In 1981, Mayor Bloomberg founded Bloomberg, LP and created a financial information computer that would collect and analyze securities data and deliver it immediately to the user. In 1990, he launched a news service and radio, television, Internet and publishing operation. Today Bloomberg, LP employs more than 11,000 people and has 285,000 news service subscribers in 161 countries around the globe.
Mayor Bloomberg earned a Bachelor of Science from Johns Hopkins University and his M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Previous GW Commencement speakers include First Lady Michelle Obama; Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Barack Obama; former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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