December 2018 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient - Morning Ceremony

Donald E. Graham
Chairman of the Board, Graham Holdings Company

Don Graham is Chairman of the Graham Holdings Company (previously The Washington Post).His family published The Washington Post from 1946 until 2013.  After graduating in 1966 from Harvard College, Graham served as an information specialist with the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam and upon his return, worked as a patrolman with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. Graham joined The Washington Post newspaper in 1971 as a reporter and subsequently held several news and business positions at the newspaper, including publisher and chairman of the Board. Today, he serves as the chairman of Graham Holdings Company. Don co-founded and served as chairman of the District of Columbia College Access Program that has helped double the number of DC public high school students going on to college and has helped triple the number graduating from college. He remains a member of the DC-CAP board. Since its inception, DC-CAP has assisted over 23,000 DC students enroll in college and has provided scholarships totaling more than $33 million. Upon learning of the plight of undocumented students with no access to college, Graham co-founded TheDream.US, a national scholarship fund for DREAMers, created to help undocumented immigrant youth get access to a college education. Graham is a trustee of the Federal City Council. He also served as a director of the College Success Foundation, KIPP-DC, The Summit Fund of Washington, Facebook, and was a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board.