Four leaders in their fields will be honored during Northwestern commencement

Northwestern University will present honorary degrees to four inspiring leaders in their fields during its 167th Commencement ceremony on Sunday, June 15, at the United Center in Chicago.

This year’s honorary degree recipients are poet Toi Derricotte, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti ’85, pathbreaking biochemist and cell biologist Marc W. Kirschner ’66, and actor and comedian Steve Carell, who is the Class of 2025’s commencement speaker.

Carell was announced as commencement speaker on Feb. 13.

“Together, this year’s honorary degree recipients — Steve Carell, Toi Derricotte, Admiral Lisa Franchetti and Marc W. Kirschner — have achieved distinction through their special contributions to society in the fields of the performing arts, writing, research and public service,” said Northwestern President Michael Schill.

This year’s four honorary degree recipients

Toi Derricotte will receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts. Poet, memoirist and teacher, Derricotte has written six collections of poetry: “I”: New and Selected Poems (2019), shortlisted for 2019 National Book Awards; “The Undertaker’s Daughter” (2011); “Captivity” (1989); “Natural Birth” (1983); “Tender” (1997), winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize; and “The Empress of the Death House” (1978), a collection that draws on her early experiences at her grandparents’ funeral home in Detroit.

Since 2020, she has been the recipient of the Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award, the Pegasus Award from the Poetry Foundation, the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, and the Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America.

In 1996, with Cornelius Eady, she co-founded Cave Canem, a nonprofit organization committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of Black poets. Cave Canem has supported the voices and careers of some of the greatest poets of the 21st century, including U.S. poet laureates Tracy K. Smith and Natasha Trethewey, as well as six Pulitzer Prize winners, five National Book Award winners, and three MacArthur “genius” grant winners, two-dozen Guggenheim fellows and six American Book Award winners.

Derricotte was born in Hamtramck, Michigan, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University and a master’s degree in English literature from New York University. She served as chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2012 to 2017 and is a professor emerita at the University of Pittsburgh.

Admiral Lisa Franchetti will receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. Franchetti is a 1985 graduate of Northwestern, where she was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Program.

Franchetti has commanded at every level and deployed in every fleet, with nearly 20 years of operational and at-sea experience. Her previous flag assignments include vice chief of Naval Operations; director for strategy, plans and policy (J5), Joint Staff; deputy chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Development, N7; commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa during the 2018 strikes against Syrian chemical-weapons facilities; chief of staff, Strategy, Plans and Policy (J5) Joint Staff; commander, Carrier Strike Group 15; commander, Carrier Strike Group 9; and commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea.

At sea, Franchetti commanded Destroyer Squadron 21, embarked on USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74); commanded USS Ross (DDG 71) and also served as commander of Pacific Partnership 2010, embarked on USNS Mercy (T-AH 19). 

Franchetti holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications and a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix. She completed Harvard Kennedy School’s National and International Security program and was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Fellow. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; was awarded the Northwestern Alumni Medal in 2019; inducted into the Medill School of Journalism Hall of Achievement in 2024; and received the Naval War College Distinguished Graduate award in 2024.

Marc W. Kirschner will receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Sciences. Born in Chicago and a product of Chicago Public Schools, Kirschner graduated from Northwestern in 1966, majoring in chemistry, and earning his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, studying the biophysics of allosteric proteins. He continued at Berkeley as a postdoctoral fellow in John Gerhart’s lab, where he became captivated by the cell cycle.  

In 1972, Kirschner joined Princeton University, where he launched a research program on microtubules and made several major discoveries, including that of the first microtubule-assembly protein, tau, which is now known for its association with Alzheimer’s disease and related neurological disorders. 

He continued his work on the cytoskeleton at the University of California, San Francisco.

In 1993, Harvard University recruited Kirschner to set up its cell biology department. A decade later, he founded Harvard’s department of systems biology and became the founding chair. He is currently the John Franklin Enders University Professor at Harvard Medical School. 

Kirschner and Gerhart co-authored two books about the cellular basis for evolutionary change. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and a foreign member of the Royal Society of London. Kirschner’s many honors include the Gairdner Foundation International Award (Canada), the American Society for Cell Biology’s Public Service Award, the Dickson Prize for Science and the EB Wilson Award. 

Steve Carell will receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts. Award-winning actor, writer and producer, Carell is globally revered for his memorable work in film, television and theater, including his classic film roles in “Bruce Almighty,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Rob Burgundy,” “Crazy, Stupid Love” and “Date Night.”

Carell first established himself as a comedian in Chicago, where he was part of the legendary Second City beginning in 1987. In 1999, Carell joined “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” where he served for six years as a correspondent.

In 2004, Carell segued into the lead role of Michael Scott in the critically acclaimed and award-winning NBC mockumentary, “The Office.” This coincided with the release of Carell’s first leading role in a feature film, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” which he co-wrote with director Judd Apatow.  

Since then, Carell has starred in several films, including “Foxcatcher,” “The Big Short” and “Battle of the Sexes.” Other film credits include “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Beautiful Boy,” “Asteroid City,” “Vice,” “Evan Almighty,” “Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who,” “Get Smart” and “The Way, Way Back.”    

On the small screen, Carell was renowned for his two-season run in Apple TV’s critically acclaimed series “The Morning Show.” He then reunited with “The Office” showrunner Greg Davis to create “Space Force” before starring in and serving as an executive producer on FX’s dramatic thriller series “The Patient.”  

Up next, he can be seen in the upcoming Netflix comedy “The Four Seasons” opposite creator Tina Fey.