UNE's 188th Commencement is set for Saturday, May 20

The University of New England will award more than 1,500 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees during its 188th Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 20, at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. Ronald A. Crutcher, D.M.A., a national leader in higher education and a distinguished classical musician, will deliver the University’s Commencement address.

Crutcher has served as president of both the University of Richmond and Wheaton College. Previously, he also served as provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at Miami University of Ohio. He is a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Crutcher is immediate past chair of the board of the American Council on Education, a senator of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, a member of the board of the Institute for the International Education of Students, and a member of the Board of Governors of Bard College Berlin. For the University of Richmond, he serves as a board member of the Jepson Scholars Foundation and the Spider Management Company. He previously served on the boards of the Posse Foundation, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and the Fulbright Association and was chair of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts.

His thematic memoir, “I Had No Idea You Were Black: Navigating Race on the Road to Leadership,” was published in 2021.

Crutcher is also a former member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and several other symphonies. For almost 40 years, he performed in the U.S. and Europe as a member of The Klemperer Trio. He has served on the boards of the Austin Symphony, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony, and the Berklee College of Music. Earlier in his career, he was president of Chamber Music America, director of the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin, and dean of the Conservatory at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Crutcher holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Miami University and both a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from Yale University’s School of Music. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from UNE.

An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters will also be awarded to Elizabeth A. McLellan, M.S.N., M.P.H., DMS ’19, president of Partners for World Health, which she founded in 2007 following an illustrious career in nursing and health care administration. Based in Portland, Maine, the innovative nonprofit organization collects medical supplies and equipment from health care facilities, manufacturers, other organizations, and individuals and distributes them to individuals, communities, and health care facilities in need.

McLellan has received numerous awards for her leadership, compassion, and service in the health care field, including the Hanley Center Leadership and Humanitarian Relief Award, the Red Cross Real Hero Award, the Outstanding Non-Profit Award, and the Northeastern University Social Impact Award. She was inducted into the University of New England’s prestigious Deborah Morton Society (DMS) in 2019.

UNE graduates will receive degrees in osteopathic medicine, dental medicine, pharmacy, health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, human services, education, and management, among other nationally leading graduate and baccalaureate programs.

More information about the ceremony can be found on the Commencement website. View the livestream at une.edu/live.