Maura Healey named 2017 chief marshal

April 10, 2017 3 min read

Massachusetts AG to lead alumni at Commencement

Maura Healey ’92, attorney general for the commonwealth of Massachusetts, has been elected by her Harvard and Radcliffe College classmates to serve as chief marshal at Harvard’s 366th Commencement ceremony on May 25.

“I look forward to joining my classmates and fellow alumni at Commencement to celebrate the Class of 2017 and to recognize their achievements and readiness to make a difference in the world,” said Healey.

The 25th reunion class has selected the chief marshal from among its ranks since 1899. In addition to leading the alumni procession to Tercentenary Theatre, the honoree also hosts a lunch for alumni, dignitaries, and special guests of the University.

“Harvard Commencement is a celebration of the achievements of all the degree recipients during their time at Harvard and also an opportunity to welcome them as Harvard alumni,” said Harvard Alumni Association president Martin Grasso Jr. ’78. “It will be a high honor to have Attorney General Healey serve as our chief marshal, and will greatly contribute to the special and memorable nature of the day for the many graduates, families, and alumni joining us in May.”

Prominent alumni who have received this honor include President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1929), U.S. Sens. Leverett Saltonstall (1939) and Henry Cabot Lodge (1949), and actor John Lithgow (1992). More recently, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (2016), NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson (2013), U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (2011), and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nicholas Kristof (2007) have served in this role.

After graduating cum laude from Harvard College, where she concentrated in government and captained the women’s basketball team, Healey played professional basketball in Austria before returning to the U.S. to earn her law degree.

Healey was a junior partner at the international law firm WilmerHale (formerly Hale and Dorr), and a special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County. She served in various senior roles in the attorney general’s office, including chief of the civil rights division, leading the state’s successful challenge against the federal Defense of Marriage Act. She was elected attorney general in 2014, and has since garnered national attention for her work advancing the economic security of residents and addressing the state’s opioid epidemic.

The annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association will be held May 25 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Tercentenary Theatre, Harvard Yard. All Harvard alumni and members of the Harvard community are invited to attend and can obtain free tickets. Alumni should contact the Harvard Alumni Association for tickets, while those on campus — faculty and staff — can visit the Harvard Box Office. For those unable to attend, the proceedings will be streamed live online.