The Le Moyne College graduates of 2012 will welcome John B. King. Jr., commissioner of education and president of the University of the State of New York, as this year’s commencement speaker for the college’s 62nd commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 20.

Each year, the commencement speaker is selected by the Board of Trustees Honors Committee, which is comprised of several members of the board, the provost, the vice president for institutional advancement, two student senate liaisons and two faculty members.

“I think it’s really important to have John King, Jr., speak at this commencement,” said senior Courtney Jenne. “In this past year, Le Moyne has advanced itself significantly in science, business and many other ways. Having him speak makes me feel like my success through these advancements is just that much more impressive.”

King is the youngest person ever to to be appointed commissioner of education of New York state. He is also the first African-American to be appointed and the first person of Puerto Rican descent.

Having obtained degrees from Harvard, Yale and Columbia Universities, King has shared his education and broad range of knowledge with young minds all across the northeast.

He is the founder of the Roxbury Preparatory Charter school, a Massachusetts charter school, and was the director of Uncommon Schools until he was appointed the position as Senior Deputy Commissioner for preschool through 12th grade education in 2009.

King has also devoted his time on the Equity and Excellence Commission of the United States Department of Education and was honored by Aspen Institute in 2008, being named Fellow of the Entrepreneurial Leaders for Public Education.

King currently supervises more than 7,000 public and independent elementary and secondary schools, more than three million students and hundreds of other educational institutions across New York state.

King’s success and experience in educational institutions across New York have excited many Le Moyne seniors eager to hear his advice for success during the hard economic times.

“He’s a good pick for a commencement speaker because he has such a broad range of experience with him,” senior Sanicee Kromah said. “A lot of us might have worries about what to do after graduation. He could provide us with a lot of great advice. He’s been successful in this field his whole life.”

Margaret Mary Fitzpatrick, S.C., Ed.D., Lynn-Beth Satterly, M.D., and Alex Maskey will also be awarded honorary degrees of doctor of humane letters at the ceremony.

Fitzpatrick has served as president of St. Thomas Aquinas College since 1995, after having served as senior vice president at St. John’s University.

Among her many positions, Fitzpatrick has also found time to work at United Way as a volunteer chairperson, a member of the board of directors at Nyack Hospital Foundation, a member of the board of trustees of the Catholic University of America, and a member of the board of directors of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.

Satterly currently works as a family physician at Upstate Medical University, providing for the local Syracuse community.

She is the founder of the Amaus Health Services at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse, which offers interim primary care for those who cannot afford their own health services, primarily the homeless.

Maskey is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, representing the residents of South Belfast.

He has previously served as a member of the Belfast City Council and as the mayor of Belfast, the first member of left wing political party Sinn Féin to hold that important post. Maskey has played a leading role in the Irish peace process and in seeing that the goals of the Good Friday Agreement are reached. Maskey was educated at the Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education, and early in his career he worked in Belfast docks as a laborer and barman.

The undergraduate commencement ceremony will be held May 20 at 10:30 a.m. The location and details of the ceremony will be announced as the date approaches closer. No tickets will be needed for this event.