Donald Newhouse, president of Advance Publications, will speak at Syracuse University’s commencement ceremony on May 15 in the Carrier Dome, the university announced Wednesday.

“Donald Newhouse is an accomplished leader in the world of communications and a dedicated family man,” Chancellor Kent Syverud said in an SU News release. “Donald represents a legacy of excellence and a generous figure to the next generation of highly skilled journalists. Our students will greatly benefit from his words as he helps us celebrate our graduating class of 2016.”

Newhouse will deliver his address at the joint ceremony for SU and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and will receive an honorary degree at SU’s 162nd commencement. The Newhouse name has long had a presence on the SU campus as Donald Newhouse and his brother, Samuel, run  one of the largest media companies in the world. The company owns Condé Nast Publications, American City Business Journals, the Golf Digest Companies and newspapers in more than 25 cities in the United States.

This year’s announcement comes about a month earlier than last year’s announcement of award-winning poet Mary Karr as the commencement speaker. Since primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall spoke at the 2005 commencement ceremony, Karr has been the sole woman to be the commencement speaker.

The selection of Newhouse as the commencement speaker also follows a recent trend of people in the media industry delivering the address. Newhouse will be the third media professional in the past four years to speak at commencement.

Donald Newhouse. Photo Courtesy of SU News Services.

“I was delighted to be asked to speak to the Syracuse University Class of 2016,” Newhouse said in the release. “I want to share life lessons from my own personal challenges and how an education at Syracuse University, along with lifelong learning, can provide them with a strong foundation to pursue the many opportunities awaiting them and the challenges they may face.”