Meredith Vieira Named BU Commencement Speaker
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Emmy-winning journalist and television host Meredith Vieira will deliver the commencement address for Boston University’s Class of 2015, President Robert Brown announced at the school’s senior breakfast Friday morning.
Vieira, 61, is a Tufts alum, Providence native, and the host of the eponymous Meredith Vieira Show. She broke into the journalism industry in 1975 as a radio news announcer before spending a decade gaining national prominence at CBS News. She joined ABC News as chief correspondent in 1993, and was one of the original members of The View when it debuted four years later. She bounced to NBC’s morning news program Today in 2006, replacing Katie Couric. In Sochi last year, Vieira became the first woman to anchor NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage.
Vieira will also receive an honorary BU degree, as will philanthropists Allen and Kelli Questrom; Grammy Award–winning jazz musician George Wein; and NAACP president and CEO Cornell William Brooks.
Vieira will deliver her address May 17 at Nickerson Field, where former Gov. Deval Patrick delivered BU’s commencement address last year. Vieira could learn from Patrick, and would be wise not to tell the graduates to stay off their smartphones, as they’ll most likely do it anyway.
