DePaul University announces 2022 commencement speakers, honorary degree recipients

In-person commencement celebrations return to DePaul this May and June, as the Class of 2022 will be honored in seven ceremonies, beginning with the College of Law on Saturday, May 21, at The Chicago Theatre. Six more ceremonies will be held on the weekend of June 11-12 at Wintrust Arena.

Five ceremonies will feature commencement speakers:

• Gigi Pritzker Pucker, who produces major, award-winning films as the founder and CEO of Madison Wells;
• George Lewis, a Chicago-based musical pioneer and member of the internationally acclaimed Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians;
• Natalye Paquin, president and CEO of the international service-focused foundation Points of Light;
• Maria Klawe, renowned mathematician and president of Harvey Mudd College;
• Malik Murray, senior vice president at Ariel Investments, the oldest African American-owned investment management firm in the U.S.

For their contributions to DePaul and the Chicago community, the university also will award honorary degrees to four individuals during the June ceremonies.

More information about each commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient can be found below. For additional information about DePaul’s commencement, including dates and times of each ceremony, visit the university’s commencement website.

Commencement Speakers

Klawe is the president of Harvey Mudd College in California and a renowned mathematician, computer scientist and scholar. Appointed in 2006, Klawe is the college’s first female president and fifth overall. Previously, she held senior administrative roles and taught computer science at Princeton University and the University of British Columbia. She serves on several boards, including the company Glowforge and the nonprofits EdReports.org, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and parity.org. The American Academy of Arts & Sciences named Klawe a fellow, and she has been honored by the Canadian Association of Computer Science and the American Association of University Women.

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School of Music and College of Science and Health ceremony

George E. Lewis, musical performer, composer and scholar

Lewis, Edwin H. Case professor of American Music at Columbia University, is a Chicago-born musical pioneer. A member of the world-renowned Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, his works in chamber and orchestral music, improvised music, computer music and opera are presented worldwide. His influential writings on new music and decolonization call for a new model of musical culture itself. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the British Academy, and the Academy of Arts Berlin.

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Kellstadt Graduate School of Business ceremony

Malik Murray, senior vice president & head of business development, Ariel Investments

Murray is a senior vice president and leader of business development at Ariel Investments, the oldest African American-owned investment management firm in the U.S. Murray joined Chicago-based Ariel in 2004, and today oversees all business development at the firm. He also sits on Ariel's Operating Committee. In his spare time, Murray is a director for the National Association of Securities Professionals. He co-chairs the membership task force of the Driehaus College of Business Advisory Council and sits on the board of trustees for his alma mater, St. Ignatius College Prep. He also serves on the school board of Ariel Community Academy, a public school affiliated with Ariel Investments on the South Side of Chicago that teaches financial literacy programming to children in the community. Murray holds both a B.S. in finance and an MBA from DePaul. He played basketball for four years for the Blue Demons.

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College of Law ceremony

Natalye Paquin, president and CEO of Points of Light

Paquin is the president and chief executive officer of Points of Light. This international nonprofit focuses on civic engagement, and its 5 million volunteers annually contribute 16 million hours of service. Paquin joined Points of Light in 2017 after serving the Girl Scouts of the USA as chief transformation officer, working to align and unify its 112 councils. Paquin has also worked for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and for Chicago and Philadelphia public schools. She earned her J.D. in 1986 from DePaul’s College of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Florida A&M University.

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College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and School of Continuing and Professional Studies ceremony

Gigi Pritzker Pucker, founder and CEO of Madison Wells

Pritzker Pucker is the chief executive officer of Madison Wells, which develops, produces and finances film, television and theater projects. These include the Academy Award-winning film “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” and Oscar-nominated “Rabbit Hole;” the Tony Award-winning “Million Dollar Quartet;” and the Emmy Award-nominated “Genius.” Pritzker Pucker is vice chair of the Sundance Institute’s board of trustees, and she is also a board member of Lemonada Media. She, her husband and daughters operate the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, which focuses on the arts, education and community safety initiatives. Pritzker Pucker holds a bachelor of arts in anthropology from Stanford University.

Honorary Degree Recipients

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Kellstadt Graduate School of Business ceremony

Lorraine “Lori" L. Holland, retired managing director, Neuberger Berman

Holland, who died Nov. 26, 2020, at the age of 63, was a managing director of the investment manager Neuberger Berman, specializing in multi-asset class strategies and working with the firm’s clients around the world. Holland chaired DePaul’s Board of Trustees, a position that culminated two decades of volunteer service to her alma mater. Before becoming a trustee in 2011, she served on the DePaul Finance Advisory Board and, later, the Board of Trustees Investment Committee as a non-trustee member. Holland graduated from DePaul in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in finance, and she earned an MBA in 1991 from the University of Chicago.

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Driehaus College of Business ceremony

George L. Ruff, founder and senior principal of Trinity Hotel Investors LLC

Ruff is the founder and senior principal of Trinity Hotel Investors LLC, a real estate investment firm with holdings across North America, Asia, and Europe. Over his almost 50-year career, Ruff has engineered, negotiated and closed more than $5 billion in transactions, some involving the world’s best-known hotel brands. Ruff graduated cum laude in 1974 from DePaul with a degree in commerce. Since then, he has assisted the university as both a trustee and an adviser. He helped DePaul establish the Real Estate Center, and his gifts have funded scholarships, endowed a faculty chair and supported the George and Tanya Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness.

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and School of Continuing and Professional Studies ceremony

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Jessica Sarowitz, founder of Miraflores Films; social impact investor and entrepreneur

Sarowitz is the founder of Miraflores Films and a social-impact investor and entrepreneur. As a Latinx woman and the daughter of immigrants, she seeks out projects that directly benefit people of color with much-needed facilities and resources, always with an eye toward creating transformative opportunities. Sarowitz created Miraflores Films to spotlight the stories of marginalized groups, and its first feature-length film is the documentary “With This Light,” which was recently screened at the Vatican before Pope Francis. Sarowitz graduated in 1991 from DePaul with a degree in economics. She is an active philanthropist, and she sits on the boards of several organizations, including the Field Museum.

About DePaul University

DePaul University provides exceptional academics and real-world experiences to prepare students for a changing world. With nearly 22,000 students and some 300 academic programs, DePaul has two campus locations in Chicago. Students richly benefit from the city’s many opportunities. In turn, DePaul is one of the forces that shapes Chicago’s future. The university was founded in 1898 by the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians), a Roman Catholic religious community dedicated to following the ideals of St. Vincent de Paul. DePaul is among the nation’s top universities for diversity because of its long tradition of providing a high-quality education to students from a broad range of backgrounds. Today,​ DePaul is the largest private, nonprofit university in the Midwest. Visit http://www.depaul.edu to learn more.