By Texas Southern University Welcomes Rockefeller Foundation Board of Trustees Chairman Admiral James Stavridis as Spring 2026 Commencement Speaker
Texas Southern University is excited to welcome Admiral James “Jim” Stavridis, Chair of The Rockefeller Foundation Board of Trustees, as the keynote speaker for its 9:00 a.m. spring commencement ceremony.
Admiral Stavridis joined The Rockefeller Foundation Board of Trustees in 2018. He became Board Chair in June 2021. He is currently Partner and Vice Chairman of the Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest and most diversified global investment firms, with $477 billion in assets under management, specializing in private equity, credit, and real estate.
A Florida native, Stavridis attended the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and spent 37 years in the United States Navy, rising to the rank of 4-star Admiral. Among his many commands were four years as the 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO, where he oversaw operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, the Balkans, and counter piracy off the coast of Africa. He also commanded U.S. Southern Command in Miami, charged with military operations through Latin America for nearly three years. He was the longest serving Combatant Commander in recent U.S. history. Following his military career, he served for five years as the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
In the course of his naval career, Admiral Stavridis served as senior military assistant to the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of Defense. He led the Navy’s premier operational think tank for innovation, Deep Blue, immediately after the 9/11 attacks. Admiral Stavridis was promoted directly from 1-star rank to 3-star rank in 2004.
He won the Battenberg Cup for commanding the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet and the Navy League John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational leadership, along with more than 50 US and international medals and decorations, including 28 from foreign nations. He also commanded a Destroyer Squadron and a Carrier Strike Group, both in combat.
In 2016, he was vetted for Vice President by Secretary Hillary Clinton, and subsequently invited to Trump Tower to discuss a cabinet position with President Donald Trump.
He earned a PhD from The Fletcher School at Tufts, winning the Gullion prize as outstanding student in his class in 1983, as well as academic honors from the National and Naval War Colleges as a distinguished student. He speaks Spanish and French.
Admiral Stavridis has published fifteen books on leadership, character, risk, the oceans, maritime affairs, and Latin America, as well as hundreds of articles in leading journals. An active user of social networks, he has tens of thousands of connections on the social networks. His TED talk on 21st century security in 2012 has close to one million views. He tweeted the end of combat operations in the Libyan NATO intervention. Two of his most popular books are the novel “2034: A Novel of the Next World War” which was a New York Times bestseller and is being published in 22 languages; and “To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and The Crucible of Decision.” His most recent novel “The Restless Wave: A Novel of the United States Navy,” described by Publisher’s Weekly as a well-told tale…worthy of “The Caine Mutiny” and “In Harm’s Way” was published in October 2024, and “The Admiral’s Bookshelf” was published in March 2025.
Admiral Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and Senior Military Analyst for CNN.
Commencement will take place on Friday, May 8, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. in the university’s Health & Physical Education Arena.
The 9:00 a.m. ceremony will include the Jesse H. Jones School of Business, Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and the College of Education.
The 2:00 p.m. ceremony will include the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences, College of Transdisciplinary Studies, School of Communication, Joan M. LaFleur College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, and the College of Science, Engineering and Technology.
Texas Southern will welcome Denise Malloy back to campus as the keynote speaker for the 2:00 p.m. ceremony.
A proud Texas Southern University and Jesse H. Jones alumna, Malloy brings more than 35 years of global leadership experience. She is the immediate past Senior Vice President and Chief Belonging Officer for Walmart Inc.
A powerhouse in her field, she has led transformative culture and sustainability initiatives across 150 countries and previously held management, director-level, and senior leadership roles at Johnson Controls, Enron, J.P. Morgan and Xerox. Her career reflects a legacy of excellence, advocacy, and a commitment to reaching back and pulling others forward.
