Minneapolis—April 20, 2016—Dr. Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico (1994–2000) and leading voice on globalization and economic development, will be the keynote speaker at Walden University's summer commencement on July 16, 2016, in National Harbor, Maryland. President Zedillo is director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and a professor of economics and politics at Yale University.
“President Zedillo believes educational institutions have a key role to play in teaching students how to pose the pertinent questions and how to find the right answers to contemporary challenges—in other words, in equipping students not only with the essential academic skills but also with the capacity to function successfully in the complex labor market of today and of the decades to come,” said Jonathan Kaplan, president of Walden. “For more than 45 years, Walden has provided opportunities for individuals to transform themselves and apply what they’ve learned to effect positive social change. I am confident President Zedillo’s message will resonate with our community of change-makers and their guests.”
President Zedillo is a member of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders who use their collective experience and influence to promote peace, justice and human rights worldwide. He also chairs the board of the Natural Resource Governance Institute and the 21st Century Advisory Council of the Berggruen Institute on Governance, and is co-chair of the Inter-American Dialogue.
Before becoming president, he also served Mexico as secretary of education, undersecretary of budget, and secretary of economic programming and the budget. President Zedillo currently serves on the Global Commission on Drug Policy and is a distinguished practitioner of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. He previously served as chair of the Global Development Network, the High-Level Commission on Modernization of World Bank Group Governance, and the Commission on the Role of the International Atomic Energy Agency to 2020 and Beyond. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the School of Economics of the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico and his MA and PhD degrees at Yale University.
In 2015, President Zedillo was named a Presidential Counselor by Laureate International Universities, the world’s leading higher education network that includes Walden University. In this role, he advises Laureate and its more than 80 institutions on academic innovation and private and public sector collaboration to increase access to higher education.
The Walden community gathers to honor its graduating students twice a year at summer and winter commencement ceremonies. The 2016 summer commencement ceremony and President Zedillo’s keynote address can be viewed live via webcast starting at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday, July 16, at www.WaldenU.edu.
About Walden University
For more than 45 years, Walden University has supported working professionals in achieving their academic goals and making a greater impact in their professions and their communities. Today, more than 52,600 students from all 50 states in the U.S. and more than 155 countries are pursuing their bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees online at Walden. The university offers more than 80 degree programs with more than 390 specializations and concentrations. Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. For more information, visit www.WaldenU.edu.
Walden is the flagship online university in the Laureate International Universities network—a global network of more than 80 campus-based and online universities in 28 countries. For more information, visit www.laureate.net.