The University of San Francisco (USF) today announced the lineup of speakers and honorary degree recipients at the university’s eight commencement ceremonies, taking place Thursday, May 18 through Saturday, May 20. Over 2300 graduate and undergraduate students will participate in the ceremonies at St. Ignatius Church on USF’s main campus.

Hailing from the front lines of real estate, medicine, academia, politics and the Catholic Church, commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients include:

School of Education Honorary Degree Recipient and Commencement Speaker:

The Most Reverend Robert W. McElroy, Catholic Bishop of San Diego

Named the sixth bishop of San Diego in 2015, Bishop Robert McElroy has served in parishes throughout California, and was appointed auxiliary bishop of San Francisco (2010-2015) by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2008, he served as the Lo Schiavo Chair in Catholic Social Thought at USF. McElroy is now the vice president of the California Catholic Conference and serves at the national conference of bishops. He is the author of two books: “The Search for an American Public Theology” and “Morality and American Foreign Policy.”

A native San Franciscan, McElroy received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, and his master’s degree from Stanford University, both in American history. He also holds a licentiate in theology from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, a doctorate in moral theology from the Gregorian University Rome, and a doctorate in political science from Stanford.

Saturday, May 20, 9 a.m.

School of Law Commencement Speaker:

The Honorable Xavier Becerra, California Attorney General

Prior to being elected as California’s attorney general this year, Xavier Becerra was a member of the United States House of Representatives for California’s 34th congressional district, representing downtown Los Angeles in Congress from 1993 to 2017. Becerra also served as a deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice from 1987 to 1990, and the California State Assembly from 1990 to 1992.

Born in Sacramento, Becerra is the son of working-class immigrants from Jalisco, Mexico. He attended the University of Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain from 1978 to 1979, and earned his B.A. in economics from Stanford University. He was the first in his family to graduate from college. Becerra received his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1980.