Charter Day Speakers
History of Charter Day Speakers
1800s
| Year | Name | Occupation |
| 1859 | John Tyler | Former U.S. President, Rector of the Board of Visitors |
| 1893 | J. Allen Watts | - |
| 1893 | Robert M. Hughes | - |
1900s
| Year | Name | Occupation |
| 1923 | Albert Bushnell Hart | Former President of American Historical Association and former President of the American Political Science Association |
| 1937 | Wesley Frank Craven | Visiting professor of history from New York University |
| 1939 | George Arents | Former chairman of the Syracuse University Board of Trustees |
| 1940 | Charles Warren | Former Assistant Attorney General of the United States, and Pulitzer Prize winning author |
| 1941 | Max Lerner | Author and syndicated columnist |
| 1942 | James T. Shotwell | Bryce Professor of the History of International Relations at Columbia University |
| 1943 | Oliver C. Carmichael | Chancellor of Vanderbilt University |
| 1944 | Lindsay Rogers | Burgess Professor of Public Law, Columbia University |
| 1945 | Kenneth Chorley | President of Williamsburg Restoration and Colonial Williamsburg |
| 1946 | James William Fulbright | U.S. Senator (Arkansas) |
| 1947 | The Right Honorable the Lord Inverchapel | British Ambassador to the U.S. |
| 1948 | Paul Eliot Green | Playwright |
| 1949 | Frederick D.G. Ribble | Dean, Department of Law, The University of Virginia |
| 1950 | Ceremony cancelled by President Pomfret | - |
| 1951 | John A. Krout | Dean of Graduate Studies, Columbia University |
| 1952 | Raymond B. Pinchbeck | Professor of Applied Economics and Dean of Richmond College, The University of Richmond |
| 1953 | Douglas S. Freeman | Journalist and Historian |
| 1954 | John A. Krout | Vice-President and Provost, Columbia University |
| 1955 | Bolitha J. Laws | Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia |
| 1956 | Lewis A. McMurran | Member of the House of Delegates, The General Assembly of Virginia |
| 1957 | Julian Parks Boyd | Princeton University, Editor, “The Papers of Thomas Jefferson” |
| 1958 | Harold Lees Fowler | Professor of History, William & Mary |
| 1959 | Graves Glenwood Clark | Chancellor Professor of English, William & Mary |
| 1960 | Walter Spencer Robertson | Former Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs |
| 1961 | Carlisle H. Humelsine | President, Colonial Williamsburg |
| 1962 | Harold Lees Fowler | Chair, Department of History, William & Mary |
| 1963 | Julian Parks Boyd | Princeton University, Editor, “The Papers of Thomas Jefferson” |
| 1964 | Julius Adams Stratton | President, M.I.T. |
| 1965 | Lewis F. Powell, Jr. | President, American Bar Association |
| 1966 | Marjorie Hope Nicolson | Professor of English, Emeritus, Columbia University, and Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton |
| 1967 | John Walker | Director, National Gallery of Art |
| 1968 | Sir Patrick Henry Dean | British Ambassador to the U.S. |
| 1968 | Bishop Robert Wright Stopford | Bishop of London |
| 1969 | Robert Quarles Marston | Director, National Institutes of Health |
| 1970 | Arthur Lehman Goodhart | University College, Oxford |
| 1971 | Davis Y. Paschall | President of William & Mary |
| 1972 | Thomas Ashley Graves, Jr. | President of William & Mary |
| 1973 | Colgate W. Darden, Jr. | Former Congressman, Former Governor of Virginia, Former Chancellor of William & Mary |
| 1974 | Edgar F. Shannon, Jr. | President of the University of Virginia |
| 1975 | Virginius Dabney | historian, author, journalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing |
| 1976 | Sir Peter Ramsbotham | British Ambassador to the U.S. |
| 1977 | Carter O. Lowance | Special Assistant to Virginia Governor |
| 1977 | Mills E. Godwin, Jr. | Former Virginia Commissioner of Administration |
| 1978 | Ernest L. Boyer | U.S. Commissioner of Education |
| 1979 | Lewis F. Powell, Jr. | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court |
| 1980 | Reverend Theodore M. Hesburg | President of the University of Notre Dame |
| 1981 | John W. Warner | U.S. Senator (Virginia) |
| 1982 | Hays T. Watkins | President, CSX Corporation |
| 1983 | Charles S. Robb | Governor of Virginia |
| 1984 | J. Carter Brown | Director, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
| 1985 | Donald W. Pritchard | Professor, Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook |
| 1986 | Clark Kerr | President Emeritus, The University of California |
| 1987 | Warren E. Burger | Chancellor of William & Mary, former Chief Justice of the United States |
| 1987 | Gerald L. Baliles | Governor of Virginia |
| 1988 | Robert Wedgeworth | Dean of the School of Library Service, Columbia University |
| 1989 | James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern | Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain |
| 1990 | Eric Sevareid | CBS News Consultant |
| 1991 | Fang Lizhi | Professor of Astrophysics and Former Vice Chancellor of China Science and Technology University |
| 1992 | D. Allan Bromley | Assistant to the President of the U.S. for Science and Technology |
| 1993 | His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales | Prince of Wales |
| 1994 | Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher | Former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Chancellor of William & Mary |
| 1995 | David S. Broder | National political correspondent and columnist for The Washington Post |
| 1996 | Pamela Churchill Harriman | U.S. Ambassador to France |
| 1997 | David McCullough | Pulitzer Prize winning author |
| 1998 | Robert M. Gates ’65 | Director of the Central Intelligence Agency |
| 1999 | Richard G. Lugar | U.S. Senator (Indiana) |
2000s
| Year | Name | Occupation |
| 2000 | Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher | Former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Chancellor of William & Mary |
| 2001 | Henry A. Kissinger | Former Secretary of State, Chancellor of William & Mary |
| 2002 | Michael K. Powell ’85 | Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission |
| 2003 | Kofi A. Annan | Secretary-General of the United Nations |
| 2004 | David D. McKiernan | Lieutenant General, Commanding General, Third U.S. Army Commander, Coalition Land Forces – Second Gulf War |
| 2005 | James H. Billington | Librarian of Congress |
| 2006 | Timothy M. Kaine | Governor of Virginia |
| 2007 | Chuck Hagel | U.S. Senator (Nebraska) |
| 2008 | James B. Comey '82 | Former Deputy Attorney General of the U.S., General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Lockheed Martin |
| 2009 | Jim Webb | U.S. Senator (Virginia) |
| 2010 | Robert F. McDonnell | Governor of Virginia |
| 2011 | Eric Cantor, J.D.'88 | U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader |
| 2012 | Robert M. Gates '65 L.H.D. '98 | Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, former Director of the CIA, and Chancellor of William & Mary |
| 2013 | Robert M. Gates '65 L.H.D. '98 | Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, former Director of the CIA, and Chancellor of William & Mary |
| 2014 | Terry McAuliffe | Governor of Virginia |
| 2015 | James B. Murray, Jr., J.D. ’74, LL.D. ’00 | Former Rector of the Board of Visitors and Venture Capitalist |
| 2016 | Ellen Stofan '83 | NASA Chief Scientist |
| 2017 | Michael “Pinball” Clemons ’89 | American-Canadian sports executive and former Canadian Football League player |
| 2018 | Ralph Northam | Governor of Virginia |
| 2019 | Katherine A. Rowe | President of William & Mary |
| 2020 | Katherine A. Rowe | President of William & Mary |
| 2020 | Robert M. Gates '65 L.H.D. '98 | Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, former Director of the CIA, and Chancellor of William & Mary |
| 2021 | Katherine A. Rowe | President of William & Mary |
| 2021 | Robert M. Gates '65 L.H.D. '98 | Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, former Director of the CIA, and Chancellor of William & Mary |
| 2022 | Glenn Youngkin | Governor of Virginia |
| 2023 | Linda Thomas-Greenfield | U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations |
| 2024 | Lonnie G. Bunch III | Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution |
| 2025 | Derek Aday | Dean of the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences and Director of VIMS |
| 2026 | Ken Burns | Award-winning Documentary Filmmaker |
| 2026 | Abigail Spanberger | Governor of Virginia |
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A note about the contents of this site
This website contains the best available information from known sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. The information in this website is not complete, and it changes as we continue to research and uncover new sources.