Lincoln University Announces TIAA President, CEO as Commencement Speaker

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Ferguson and Scott to Receive Honorary Degrees

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA – Lincoln University announced today that Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., the president and chief executive officer of TIAA, will give the 158th Commencement address on May 12 and will receive an honorary doctorate along with Kenneth E. Scott, the president and chief executive officer of Beech Companies.


Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. will give the Commencement address at Lincoln University on May 12, 2017, and receive an honorary degree. Photo provided.

TIAA is the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields and a Fortune 100 financial services organization. Ferguson holds a bachelor’s, law degree, and doctorate in economics all from Harvard University.

Ferguson is the former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. He represented the Federal Reserve on several international policy groups and served on key Federal Reserve System committees, including Payment System Oversight, Reserve Bank Operations, and Supervision and Regulation. As the only governor in Washington, D.C. on 9/11, he led the Federal Reserve’s initial response to the terrorist attacks, taking actions that kept the U.S. financial system functioning while reassuring the global financial community that the U.S. economy would not be paralyzed.

Ferguson is a member of the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and co-chairs its Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education. He serves on the boards of Alphabet, Inc.; General Mills, Inc.; and International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.


Kenneth E. Scott will receive an honorary doctorate at Lincoln University's Commencement on May 12, 2017. Photo provided.

Kenneth E. Scott is well known throughout the Philadelphia region for his support and commitment to community service. His work has produced comprehensive development in the areas of business, education, finance, media, housing, philanthropy, real estate development, and technology.

He is the president of the Beech Companies, which includes Beech Interplex, Inc., Beech Business Bank, Beech International, The Alston/Beech Foundation, Beech Community Services Corporation, Beech LLC, Beech Technologies and the Beech Network.

More than 400 students will graduate from Lincoln University this month. The Commencement ceremony will be held outside on the Southern Chester County campus at 10 a.m. on May 12. A baccalaureate service will be held at 6 p.m. on May 11 in the International Cultural Center on campus. The baccalaureate address will be given by Reverend Evelyn Kent Clark, pastor at New Life United Methodist Church in Drexel Hill.

More about Commencement can be found online.

By Shelley Mix, Office of Communications & Public Relations

Lincoln University, the nation’s first degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU), educates and empowers students to lead their communities and change the world. Lincoln offers a rigorous liberal arts education to a diverse student body of approximately 2,200 men and women in more than 35 undergraduate and graduate programs.