SMITHFIELD, RI—In May, when the Bryant University community comes together to celebrate the Class of 2026 at Commencement, in addition to the 915 students receiving diplomas, Bryant will confer honorary degrees upon four outstanding leaders recognized for their public service, management skills, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovation in the areas of academia, business, and healthcare.
Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, will receive an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration and deliver the undergraduate commencement address on Saturday, May 16 at 10:00 a.m. Professor Edmondson is globally recognized as the leading scholar on psychological safety and teamwork, ranked #1 in the Thinkers50 list of management thinkers in both 2021 and 2023.
Glenn Creamer, co-founder of Providence Equity Partners, where he currently serves as a senior advisor, will receive an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration at the undergraduate commencement ceremony. Providence Equity is a global private equity investment firm which has managed over $33 billion in private equity capital commitments. Over the course of his thirty-plus years at Providence Equity, he served on the firm’s management and investment committees as well as the boards of numerous public and private companies in North America and Europe.
Bryant’s graduate degree commencement ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 14 at 5:00 p.m. Richard B. Leto ’73, a well-respected retail marketing executive and private investor, who retired as Executive Vice President of Merchandising for Macy’s, will receive an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration and deliver the graduate commencement address. Leto’s career spans more than three decades leading major national retailers, including helping Kohl’s grow from a regional chain to a $10B national brand before pivoting to private‑equity advisory and philanthropic work.
Dr. John A. Froehlich ’09 MBA, a founding member of University Orthopedics and former chief and director at The Miriam Hospital, received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters on Saturday, March 21, at the 2026 Physician Assistant’s Commencement. During his orthopedic career, Dr. Froehlich served as a clinical professor at Brown and aided in the education and training of medical students, physician assistants, residents, and fellows.
“Every May, the Bryant community comes together to celebrate our graduates and their many accomplishments. We are honored to have Amy Edmondson and Richard Leto join us as Commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients this year,” says Bryant University President Ross Gittell, Ph.D. “In recognizing our graduates, we are pleased to welcome a distinguished group of professionals to confer honorary diplomas for excellence in their fields. Congratulations to the Class of 2026 for their hard work at Bryant, cultivating the knowledge, skills, and determination that will guide them in making a meaningful impact as purpose-driven leaders in their communities and the organizations where they will work.”
About Bryant University
For more than 160 years, Bryant University has been at the forefront of delivering an exceptional education that anticipates the future and prepares students to be innovative leaders of character in a changing world. The university delivers an integrated academic and student life experience with nationally recognized academic programs at the intersection of business, liberal arts, and health and behavioral sciences.
Located on a 465-acre contemporary campus in Smithfield, R.I., Bryant enrolls approximately 3,800 undergraduate and graduate students from 41 states and 50 countries. Bryant is recognized as a top 1 percent national leader in student education outcomes and ROI and regularly receives high rankings from U.S. News and World Report, QS Stars, Money, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wall Street Journal, and College Factual. Bryant.edu