Contact Us

+1.617.495.6155
news@hbs.edu
Filter Results

Contact Us

+1.617.495.6155
news@hbs.edu
24 May 2024

Harvard Business School Celebrates 114th Commencement

ShareBar

BOSTON—Harvard Business School (HBS) held its 114th Commencement exercises yesterday with a diploma ceremony on its campus in Boston.

After an all-University celebration in Harvard’s Tercentenary Theatre in the morning, 1,004 students received their MBA degrees in front of the School’s Baker Library | Bloomberg Center.

The top five percent of the MBA Class of 2024 (53 students) graduated with high distinction as Baker Scholars (named after the School's initial benefactor, George Fisher Baker). Eighty-seven students earned their diplomas with distinction and 205 earned second-year honors.

Also participating in yesterday’s ceremony were six MBA graduates who were awarded their degrees this past March, with one student graduating with high distinction as a Baker Scholar and two earning second-year honors.

In addition, 19 students in the Doctoral Program earned PhD degrees in the fields of business administration, business economics, and organizational behavior.

View Video

Dean Srikant Datar presented the 2024 Alumni Achievement Awards to Peter O. Crisp (MBA 1960), co-founder and former managing partner of Venrock Associates; John B. Hess (MBA 1977), CEO of Hess Corporation; Desiree Rogers (MBA 1985), co-owner and CEO of Black Opal LLC; Gerald W. Schwartz (MBA 1970), founder and chairman of Onex Corporation; and Gwill E. York (MBA 1984), founding managing director of Lighthouse Capital Partners.

In his Commencement remarks, Dean Datar commended the MBA Class of 2024 for their efforts to sustain community and build understanding following October 7, and reflected on the phrase the class was greeted with at their welcome address in the fall of 2022: Hard work, with humility, for humanity.

View Video

“I see hard work, with humility, for humanity as the human dimensions that bring to life our mission of educating leaders who make a difference in the world. ‘Educating leaders’ requires humility: we cannot educate unless you have a learning mindset, and you cannot have a learning mindset unless you have humility. ‘Making a difference’ is not easy; it requires hard work. ‘In the world’ means ‘for humanity’—changing people’s lives, and society more generally, for the better,” said Datar. “Today, in the face of challenges such as climate change, social and economic inequality, political partisanship, and geopolitical polarization, we need to build resilient organizations for the long term. We need leaders like you who can imbue the values of hard work, humility, and humanity as necessary foundations for such organizations.”
Contacts

Mark Cautela
mcautela+hbs.edu
617-365-9547

About Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School, located on a 40-acre campus in Boston, was founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University. It is among the world's most trusted sources of management education and thought leadership. For more than a century, the School's faculty has combined a passion for teaching with rigorous research conducted alongside practitioners at world-leading organizations to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. Through a dynamic ecosystem of research, learning, and entrepreneurship that includes MBA, Doctoral, Executive Education, and Online programs, as well as numerous initiatives, centers, institutes, and labs, Harvard Business School fosters bold new ideas and collaborative learning networks that shape the future of business.

LATEST PRESS RELEASES