Doctoral and Master’s Degree Commencement Speaker – Raj Subramaniam
Raj Subramaniam, president and CEO of the FedEx Corporation, one of the world’s largest transportation companies, will deliver HPU’s Commencement address to graduate students on May 1, 2025. Subramaniam was named FedEx’s CEO in June 2022, becoming only the second CEO in the company’s 53-year history after previously serving as its president and chief operating officer. He moved up the ranks after starting at FedEx as an associate marketing analyst in 1991, and he has held various leadership roles during his more than 30 years with the transportation giant.
Commencement is a private event for HPU graduates and their family members and will be streamed live at www.highpoint.edu/live.
About Raj Subramaniam:
Subramaniam is credited with revitalizing FedEx’s operating strategy, growing its e-commerce business and utilizing global supply chain data to drive the company’s digital agenda. Outside of FedEx, he serves on the board of directors for the Procter & Gamble Company.
In 2023, Subramaniam received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, India’s highest civilian honor recognizing the contributions and achievements for overseas Indians. He was born and raised in India before moving to the United States for graduate school.
Bachelor’s Degree Commencement Speaker – Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour, the Emmy and Golden GLobe-winning actress known for starring in the TV show “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” will deliver HPU’s Commencement address for undergraduate students on May 3, 2025. Seymour gained international fame after she starred alongside Roger Moore in the 1973 James Bond film “Live and Let Die.” Since then, she has proven to be one of Hollywood’s most endearing actresses, appearing in more than 100 films and TV shows and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999. She has also starred on Broadway.
Commencement is a private event for HPU graduates and their family members and will be streamed live at www.highpoint.edu/live.
About Jane Seymour:
As the iconic star of “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” which aired on CBS from 1993-98, Seymour became a role model for women and girls around the world. She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a TV Drama Series in 1995.
In 2000, Seymour received the Officer of the British Empire bestowed upon her by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
She has starred in films of all genres, including the 1980 romance “Somewhere in Time,” the 1982 British adventure “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” and “Wedding Crashers,” the highest-grossing comedy of 2005.
Seymour started the Open Hearts Foundation, a nonprofit organization that was inspired by her mother, who was a prisoner in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. In addition, she has co-authored several children’s books and self-help books and created jewelry, scarves and clothes under her Jane Seymour Designs label.
Subramaniam and Seymour join an extraordinary lineup of HPU Commencement Speakers including Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, an accomplished woman entrepreneur, former U.S. Ambassador to Finland and the first woman to chair the American Red Cross; Daniel Lubetzky, founder of KIND Snacks; Cynt Marshall, CEO of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and HPU Sports Executive in Residence; Dr. Michio Kaku, physicist and co-founder of String Field Theory; Wolf Blitzer, lead political anchor at CNN; the 66th Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; broadcast legend Tom Brokaw; Gen. Colin Powell, former secretary of state, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and national security advisor; former First Lady Laura Bush; Josh Groban, internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter and actor; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas; Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple and HPU’s Innovator in Residence; Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; NASA Astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin; and Muhtar Kent, CEO of the Coca-Cola Company.