Drexel University Names 2025 Commencement Speakers
Students in the crowd at Citizens Bank Park for Commencement 2024.
Commencement for Drexel University’s Class of 2025 draws even closer, but before the graduates move their tassels to the other side and head off into their next chapter, they’ll hear inspiring words from their ceremony’s keynote speaker. Several speakers, including the University-wide ceremony’s speaker Justin Best ’19 and many from the college and school ceremonies, are alumni, and all of them are leaders and innovators in their field.
See who will be inspiring graduating Dragons to soar to new heights.
University-Wide Speaker: Justin Best
Two-time Olympian, Olympic gold medalist, and investment banker Justin Best '19 will be the 2025 University-wide Commencement keynote speaker at the June 12 celebration at 5 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park. As a celebrated athlete, Best rowed at Drexel in the men's four and eight and has made two trips to the Olympics with Team USA, securing the gold medal in the men's four in rowing in 2024 — the first gold medal in the event for Team USA in 64 years. Since graduating from Drexel with a degree in business and engineering, Best pursued his passions and used the experiences he collected at Drexel to soar.
College and School Speakers
College of Computing & Informatics
June 11 at 12:30 p.m. at The Mann Center
Keynote speaker: Kamelia Aryafar, MSc ’10, PhD ’15, a senior executive in Google Cloud AI focused on building Google Agentspace (which she founded), Vertex AI Search Verticals and Platform.
Aryafar is an active member of the machine learning community and frequently speaks at academic and industry conferences focusing on advancing the field of generative AI, machine learning, technology and women in STEM.
School of Education
June 11 at 12:30 p.m. at the Miller Theater
Keynote speaker: Tony B. Watlington, Sr. is the superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, serving nearly 200,000 students. Watlington is a first-generation college graduate, holding degrees from North Carolina A&T State University, Ohio State University and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and began his career as a history teacher.
Under his leadership, the district outperformed other large urban districts nationwide in math and reading for grades 3–8, according to the Education Recovery Scorecard by Harvard and Stanford.
College of Nursing and Health Professions
June 11 at 5 p.m. at The Mann Center
Keynote speaker: James Ballinghoff is the vice president and chief nurse executive for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. He also serves as the assistant dean for clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
Ballinghoff has served in several leadership positions within the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In 2012, he was honored with the Philadelphia Tri-State Nursing Excellence Award for Advancing and Leading the Profession, given by Nursing Spectrum magazine, and has been recognized for his caring and compassionate leadership style and his work as a mentor. Ballinghoff has presented both nationally and internationally on topics including leadership, reducing hospital readmissions, patient flow and implementing a shared governance model.
Goodwin College of Professional Studies
June 11 at 5 p.m. at the Mandell Theater
Keynote speaker: Elleanor Jean Hendley is an Emmy Award-winning pioneer in Philadelphia broadcast journalism and an advocate for empowering girls. She was the only woman of color to produce and host a weekly prime-time magazine show, “City Lights,” which aired for 10 years during her 25-year tenure at CBS 3 TV. She also served as the Eyewitness News education reporter and director of public affairs.
Hendley, a former public school educator, also created Teenshop Inc. in 1985; it’s a nonprofit volunteer weekend college prep and life skills program for girls of color that has achieved a 100% college acceptance rate for over 3,000 alumnae. Teenshop partners with Drexel and operates a chapter on campus with a mentoring initiative with Drexel students. In 2005, she founded Girls Achieve to provide in-school curriculum support and enrichment programs for middle school girls and authored an activity book as well.
Bennett S. LeBow College of Business
June 12, at 8:30 a.m. at the Mann Center
Mike Pellini, MBA ’92, is a general partner of S32, a venture capital firm investing in the frontiers of technology. Prior to joining S32 in 2017, Pellini served as CEO of Foundation Medicine Incorporated (FMI), a company that transformed the way pharmaceutical companies and physicians evaluate the genomic changes underlying a patient’s cancer. He transitioned to chairman in August 2018 when global healthcare company Roche acquired FMI.
He currently serves as a member of the board of directors for several bioscience companies; his activities as an investor and board member reflect a breadth of understanding in personalized medicine, with a particular interest and focus on defeating cancer.
Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health
June 12 at 8:30 a.m. at the Miller Theater
Palak Raval-Nelson, PhD ’08, is the health commissioner for Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health. She has worked for the department since 1996, when she began her career as a public health sanitarian. Since then, she has served as a supervisor, manager, administrator and director of Philadelphia’s Environmental Health Services, as well as deputy health commissioner.
Raval-Nelson is an adjunct professor for the Dornsife School of Public Health and Temple University’s College of Public Health. She teaches about environmental and occupational health, as well as about vulnerable populations and the environment. She has presented papers at the National Environmental Health Association, Pennsylvania Public Health Association and the American Pharmacists Association, and has been published several times in the national Journal of Environmental Health. In 2008, she published her first book, “Breast Cancer Politics: An Evaluation of the Current Funding Policies.”
Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship
June 12 at 8:30 a.m. at the Mandell Theater
Keynote speaker: Nicole Melchiorre, co-founder and president of Shore House Canna, the first legal cannabis dispensary on the Jersey Shore, began her career in New York City as a journalist. She helped launch CBS News Online and was part of the pioneering team that developed and maintained the website for the pioneering “Survivor” reality television show. She also joined accounting firm Arthur Andersen in the early 2000s’ tech boom, focusing on business development and managing events and marketing initiatives for the firm’s technology practice.
In 2021, Melchiorre embraced an unexpected opportunity: ownership of an adult-use recreational cannabis dispensary. She immersed herself in the complexities of a highly regulated and rapidly evolving market, and Melchiorre and her partners opened Shore House Canna in West Cape May, New Jersey in September 2023, and it's now recognized as one of the most successful independent dispensaries in the state.
College of Arts and Sciences
June 12 at 12:30 p.m. at the Mann Center
Keynote speaker: Since 2014, Colleen Wolfe has been a host at NFL Media, appearing in a variety of primetime shows and major events including the NFF Draft and Super Bowl. (Go Birds!) She contributes to the NFL Daily podcast and co-hosts “Women’s Sports Now” on Roku.
Wolfe began her career in Philadelphia at WTXF-TV, Comcast SportsNet and WIP-FM, after growing up in the suburb of Horsham, Pennsylvania.
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
June 12 at 12:30 p.m. at the Miller Theater
Keynote speaker: Stacy Klein-Gardner MS ’93 currently serves on the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems’ Executive Advisory Council and is an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University. She earned her MS in biomedical engineering from Drexel before receiving her PhD from Vanderbilt in 1996.
Klein-Gardner's career focuses on growing the engineering workforce, giving all students literacy in engineering and developing high-quality professional development for engineering teachers. She is the founding executive director of the nonprofit Engineering for US All (e4usa) and served as the co-principal investigator and co-director of the National Science Foundation-funded Engineering for US All project. She is very active in the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) and is a fellow of ASEE and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Pennoni Honors College, Custom-Designed Major
June 12 at 12:30 p.m. at the Mandell Theater
Keynote speaker: Sarah Robinson ’18 graduated with a BS focused on organizational development through the Custom-Designed Major; she delivered the Commencement address for her graduating class. During her time, she held leadership roles in the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority and Drexel Undergraduate Student Government. She maintains strong ties with Drexel, regularly returning as a guest speaker to share insights with current students.
Post-graduation, Robinson honed her skills in human resources before pivoting to consulting in workforce transformation during the pandemic. She now leads Learning and Development at North Highland, blending her HR and consulting expertise at the business management consultant company.
College of Engineering
June 13 at 8:30 a.m. at the Mann Center
Keynote speaker: Jonathan Ojany, BS architectural and civil engineering ’97, honors, is a distinguished business leader with more than 20 years of global experience spanning industries and functions. He currently serves as CFO and head of strategy and transformation for KFC-USA and has held senior roles at companies including The Coca-Cola Company, InterContinental Hotels Group and McKinsey & Company.
Ojany's career began at Sunoco as a co-op student. After graduation, he joined full time and rose to senior engineer and business development manager in just five years.
Ojany is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Kenya. He is active on academic, arts and environmental boards worldwide and recently served on the College of Engineering’s Executive Advisory Council. In 2023, he was named a Presidential Leadership Scholar, a distinction jointly awarded by four U.S. presidential centers.
Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
June 13 at 12:30 p.m. at the Mann Center
Keynote speaker: James Poyser is a Grammy Award-winning musician, producer and composer whose artistry has profoundly influenced modern soul, R&B and hip-hop. Hailing from the United Kingdom and raised in Southwest Philadelphia, he is best known for his integral role in the legendary hip-hop band The Roots, the house band for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
His extraordinary talent has allowed him to produce, write and perform with an array of influential artists, including Mariah Carey, Adele, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z, Rihanna and John Legend, among many others. Poyser’s distinctive musical style is characterized by a signature soulful touch, which has graced numerous critically acclaimed albums and landmark songs. He has toured and performed across genres, composing for film and television and acting as the musical producer for the recent “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary concert.