We invite you to recommend a convocation speaker for Case Western Reserve University's Convocation Ceremony in May. We are seeking someone with broad appeal—a speaker who recognizes that a convocation audience is a large group of individuals with diverse values, interests, and concerns.
A suggestion for a convocation speaker should be based on the following considerations:
- Outstanding achievement in an academic field, the arts, business, etc.
- Innovative and creative achievements
- Humanitarian deeds and the degree to which the candidate’s activities have touched various lives
- The extent to which the candidate’s achievement represents sustained efforts throughout their career
- Extent to which the candidate represents an outstanding model for our graduates
- The honor brought to CWRU should the candidate accept the nomination
Lists of nominees will be compiled and shared with university leadership. Please be aware that identifying and securing external speakers is a complex process involving many considerations and requiring a firm commitment on the part of those invited.
Please include with your recommendation a brief identification of the individual being nominated
Susie Gharib
Anchor and Senior Special Correspondent, Fortune
Susie Gharib is an award-winning journalist and one of the most respected voices in business news. As Senior Special Correspondent for Fortune, she conducts in-depth video interviews with the world’s most influential CEOs and business leaders, exploring both breaking news and the leadership lessons that shape industries.
A trailblazer in financial journalism, Gharib was part of the core group of pioneering reporters who transformed business news into must-watch television. When she made the leap from print to TV, business reporting was seen as niche and dry. Alongside a handful of journalists and producers, she helped turn it into compelling, mainstream programming bringing viewers the drama of the markets, the personalities behind the headlines, and the stories of entrepreneurship that now define the genre.
For more than 16 years, Gharib was the Co-Anchor of PBS’s “Nightly Business Report”, the longest-running business news program on public television. Known for her no-nonsense interview style, she has pressed Wall Street’s power brokers, Fortune 500 CEOs, and Washington policymakers on the issues that move markets and impact millions.
Her list of exclusive interviews reads like a Who’s Who of global business and finance: Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jamie Dimon, Mary Barra, Charles Schwab, Michael Dell, Fred Smith, Brian Moynihan, Larry Fink, Julie Sweet, Ed Bastian, Thasunda Brown Duckett, and Martha Stewart among many others. She has sat down with multiple Federal Reserve Chairs, including Alan Greenspan, and has been invited to the White House to interview Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Gharib’s work has earned some of journalism’s highest honors. She is a three-time recipient of the Gracie Allen Award, including recognition as the top anchorwoman of a national news program. She has twice won the Front Page Award from the Newswoman’s Club of New York, received the Elliot V. Bell Award from the New York Financial Writers Association for her contributions to financial journalism, and was honored with the Fulbright Award for advancing global business understanding.
Her career spans some of the most prestigious names in journalism, including CNBC, NBC, and ABC. She began her career at Fortune magazine as a senior writer and associate editor and has held reporting positions at Newsweek, the Associated Press, and The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Over the years, she has built a vast network of high-profile newsmakers and is frequently called upon as a speaker, moderator, and guest commentator on business and market news.
A magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Case Western Reserve University, Gharib earned her Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. She is Trustee Emerita of Case Western Reserve University, Trustee Emerita of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a former Trustee of the Economic Club of New York. She also shares her expertise as a guest lecturer at Hunter College’s journalism program.
Past Speakers
Dr. Cerf joins a long list of distinguished speakers including:
- Vinton G. Cerf, MS, PhD, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google
- Michael Osterholm, PhD and Author
- Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland (Law '18 and MGT '18)
- Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League
- William F. Baker (ADL '66, GRS '68 and '72), Emmy Award-winner, past president and CEO of New York Public Television
- Beth Mooney, KeyCorp Chairman and CEO
- Toby Cosgrove, MD, past President and CEO of Cleveland Clinic
- Fred Gray (LAW ’54, HON ’92), celebrated civil rights attorney
- Mark Weinberger (LAW ’87, MGT ’87), EY Global Chairman and CEO
- Barry Meyer (LAW ’67), Retired Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO
- Mohamed Ibn Chambas (LAW ’84), Joint Special Representative of the African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur
- Katie Couric, journalist and author
- Peter B. Lewis, Philanthropist and former Chairman of Progressive Insurance
- Julie Gerberding (WRC ’77, MED ‘81), previous director of the Centers for Disease Control