// Courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
This year’s speaker for the Baccalaureate Ceremony will be a Penn faculty member: Angela Duckworth, the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychology.
The Baccalaureate Ceremony which is part of graduation, is described as “a 50-minute interfaith program that features music, readings, prayers and a speaker.”
Duckworth will speak at the Baccalaureate Ceremony held on May 14, a day before the Commencement Ceremony where Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) will take the stage. There will be two different ceremonies: one at 1:30 p.m. and another at 3 p.m. No tickets are required for the event.
Duckworth has published cutting-edge research on the notions of grit and self-control. Her work has gained great popularity among the general public; her TED Talk attracted over 10 million views online and her first book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” was a New York Times bestseller.
After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard College, Duckworth first worked as a management consultant before leaving to teach math to seventh graders in New York City’s public schools, where her curiosity about hard work and grit sparked. She then entered the Ph.D program in psychology at Penn, where she has been a faculty member since 2007.
Duckworth was awarded the MacArthur “genius” fellowship in 2013 and has previously advised the White House, the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams and Fortune 500 CEOs.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate