2000
Graduate School - Rita R. Colwell
Colwell was director of the National Science Foundation.
School of Law - Harold Hongju Koh
Koh was assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - Hunter (Patch) Adams
Adams was a hysician whose philosophy of dispensing humor with medicine was the basis for the film "Patch Adams".
2001
Graduate School - Lester Brown
Brown was founder and president of Worldwatch Institute.
School of Law - Clare Dalton
Dalton was the Matthews Distinguished University Professor at Northeastern University School of Law.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - John G. Rowland
Rowland was governor of Connecticut (R-Conn. 1995-2004) and a former U.S. Congressman (R-Conn. 3rd Dist.)
2002
Graduate School - Frene Ginwala
Ginwala was speaker of the South African National Assembly and leader of the African National Congress.
School of Law - Patricia McGowan Wald
Wald was a former judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - Judah Folkman
Folkman was director of the Vascular Biology Program at Children's Hospital in Boston.
2003
Graduate School - Arthur Levitt
Levitt was senior advisor with The Carlyle Group and a former chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
School of Law - Albie Sachs
Saches was a justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - Dushanka Kleinman
Kleinman was deputy director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health.
2004
Graduate School - Gene E. Likens
Likens was director of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y.
School of Law - Dennis Wayne Archer
Archer was the mayor of Detroit, Michigan.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - Francisco Jimenez
Jimenez was professor of modern languages & ethnic studies and director of the Ethnic Studies Program at Santa Clara University.
2005
Graduate School - Jonathan Fanton
Fanton was president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
School of Law - Morris Sheppard Arnold
Arnold was a judge with the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - Antonia Novello
Novello was Surgeon General of the United States from 1990-1993.
2006
Graduate School - Arthur Caplan
Caplan was chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
School of Law - The Honorable Allyson Duncan
Duncan was a juudge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - Francis S. Collins
Cokllins was director of the Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
2007
Graduate School - Wolfgang Ketterle
Ketterle was the John D. MacArthur Professor of Physics at MIT and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001.
School of Law - Shirin Ebadi
Ebadi was founder and leader of the Association for Support of Children's Rights in Iran.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - Charles Bertolami
Bertolami was dean of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry and president-elect of the American Dental Education Association.
School of Pharmacy (PharmD) - Robin Bogner
Bogner was associate professor at UConn and pharmacy "Teacher of the Year".
2008
Graduate School - Garry Wills
Wills was a scholar and journalist and recipient of numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize.
School of Law - Chase T. Rogers
Rogers was chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - Dr. Pauline Chen
Chen was a transplant surgeon and author of "Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality"
School of Pharmacy (PharmD) - Gerald Gianutsos
Gianutos was a UConn associate professor of pharmacology.
2009
Graduate School - Robert Sternberg
Sternberg was dean of the Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences.
School of Law - Sheila Bair
Bair was chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and formerly professor of financial regulatory policy at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass-Amherst.
Schools of Medicine & Dental Medicine - Keith Batchelder
Batchelder was founder and chief executive officer of Genomic Healthcare Strategies.
School of Pharmacy (PharmD) - Victor Yanchick
Yanchick was dean of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Pharmacy.
Information on the History of Commencement pages was researched and compiled by Mark J. Roy