2025 Commencement Orator: LeVar Burton

LeVar Burton is one of the world’s most prolific and impactful artists, with a decades-long career that includes roles as an actor, director, producer, author, and podcaster. He is the recipient of 15 Emmys Awards, a Peabody Award, a Grammy Award, and seven NAACP Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Inaugural Children's & Family Emmys. His body of work includes starring roles in the epic miniseries “Roots,” the seminal and defining exploration of American slavery and its impact. Burton also starred as Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series and movies and as the long-time host of “Reading Rainbow.” 

As a lifelong literacy advocate, Burton has dedicated decades to encouraging children to read. He was the long-time host of the iconic “Reading Rainbow” television program. His enormously popular LeVar Burton Reads podcast has over 175 episodes in its catalog, boasting 25 million downloads. He also served as executive producer of “The Right to Read,” a film that positions the literacy crisis in America as a civil rights issue. His production company, LeVar Burton Entertainment (LBE), develops projects in the film, television, podcasting, and publishing space with the mission to share stories that fosters empathy, champions diversity, and builds community.