For more than 160 years, Bryant University has prepared students to be leaders of character on the world stage. To help guide their journeys, Bryant has hosted the globe's foremost thinkers in business, politics, the arts, and human rights to share their experience and wisdom. Here are just a few of the prominent individuals who have visited Bryant:

Captains of industry
In 1945, Thomas J. Watson, president of International Business Machines (later known as simply “IBM”) delivered Bryant’s Commencement address. “The improvement in standards of living and in the welfare of our people has gone along with the broadening of educational opportunities in our country,” Watson remarked to the crowd. “Our progress in developing higher wage standards and shorter working hours, as well as higher standards of living, has gone hand in hand with our development in education.

“Bryant College, entering the field of business education in 1863, is truly a pioneer institution in business education, and deserves great credit for the contributions it has made to educational and business progress,” noted Watson.

Both before and since Watson’s address, Bryant has been a popular destination for business leaders dedicated to guiding the leaders of tomorrow, including:

• Founder of and Chairman of the Board for J.C. Penney James Cash Penney (1953)
• Founder of Tupperware, Earl S. Tupper, who donated the land to Bryant for its Smithfield campus (1968)
• President of Forbes Magazine Malcolm Forbes (1976) and, later, his son Steve, chairman of Forbes Media and the Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine (2018)
• President of Christian Dior Nicholas Colombe (1984)
• Former president, chairman, and CEO of Hasbro-Bradley Alan Hassenfeld (1985), and his brother Stephen (1985), also a former chairman and CEO of Hasbro-Bradley
• Co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Jerry Greenfield (2000)
• CEO of General Electric Jack Welch (2005)
• CEO of General Motors Daniel Akerson (2011)
• CEO and Chair of GE Jeffrey Immelt (2017)
• Co-founding executive of Netflix Mitch Lowe (2019)

Distinguished leaders
2008 was a presidential year at Bryant. In February, former President Bill Clinton visited the university to campaign for his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton; it was the first time a U.S. president had visited Bryant University. At Commencement, former President George H.W. Bush received an honorary degree and served as the undergraduate Commencement speaker.

“Here at Bryant, to their everlasting credit, they’ve taught you that character matters as much as knowledge,” said Bush. “No amount of fame or fortune is worth losing your very soul.”

Beyond U.S. presidents, Bryant has hosted a wide range of other regional, national, and international leaders, including:

• Commanding General of the United States Army Lt. General Nelson A. Miles (1909)
• Vice President of the United States Charles Curtis (1930)
• United States Treasurer Ivy Baker Priest (1953)
• U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell (Numerous visits, including Bryant’s 1962 Commencement)
• Admiral Stansfield Turner, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (1977)
• U.S. Senator John Chafee (Numerous visits, including Bryant’s 1979 Commencement)
• U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (1981)
• Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan (1988)
• Former Vice President Walter Mondale (1990)
• President of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa (2001)

There has always been a strong partnership between Bryant and Rhode Island’s leadership, who have supported the university’s its mission to educate and inspire students to discover their passion and drive positive change at the local, national, and international level. United States senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, United States representatives Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner, Governor Daniel McKee, Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos, General Treasurer James Diossa, State Senator David P. Tikoian, Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives K. Joseph Shekarchi and others are all regular visitors to campus.

Inspirations and guiding lights
Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Prize-winning humanitarian whose gripping memoir, Night, described his experiences in the infamous German concentration camps of Buchenwald and Auschwitz, discussed the power of hope and the importance of making a difference with the Bryant community in 2010.

“Indifference is the greatest sin,” Wiesel said to the crowd. “My commandment is, ‘Thou shall not stand idly by.’”

Many others have inspired the Bryant community over the years as well, including:

• Nobel Peace Prize Winner John O. Pastore (1949)
• Writer and human rights activist Bette Bao Lord (1990)
• Civil Rights pioneer Rosa Parks (1995)
• Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins (2003)
• Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman vice-presidential candidate on a national party ticket (2008)
• Dan Savage, LGBTQ activist and co-founder of the “It Gets Better” Project (2012)
• Damien Echols, one of the “West Memphis Three" (2013)
• Bernice King, lawyer, minister, and daughter of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King (2021)
• Tamika Danielle Mallory, activist and one of the leading organizers of the 2017 Women's March (2022)
• Ilyasah Shabazz, author, community organizer, social activist, and daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabaz (2023)

Innovators and truth-seekers
In 2017 engineer and Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak discussed innovation, invention, and inspiration with former Bryant President Ronald K. Machtley ’20H in front for an enthusiastic crowd of 1,300 Bryant students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Wozniak shared his story, from his youth as a curious kid who tinkered with transistors to his success with Apple — where he played a key role in transforming the computing industry and launching the personal computer revolution — as well as the lessons he had learned.

Most of all, Wozniak urged the students in attendance to be curious. “I always encourage people to know as many disciplines as you can — and not just one tiny, tiny specific one — because it’s much more rewarding to you in the end,” he mused.

That call to action has been echoed by other innovators, truth-seekers, and explorers who have visited Bryant, including:

• Best-selling author, Pulitzer Prize winner, and journalist David Halberstam (1987)
• USA Today founder John Quinn (1987)
• Literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1992)
• Historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose (1998)
• Noted historian and best-selling author of two Pulitzer Prize-winning novels David McCullough (2008)
• Award-winning investigative journalist and author Eric Schlosser (2009)
• Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author David Maraniss (2015)
• Oceanographer Robert Ballard, Ph.D. (2015)
• Astronaut and the first woman of color in space Mae Jemison (2020)
• Nobel Prize winner Sir Oliver Hart (2023)

Artists
In 1996, renowned author, poet, activist, and performer Maya Angelou performed at Bryant before a sold-out crowd. Angelou sang, read from her works of poetry, and shared stories about the personal experiences that had shaped her life and her art.

“There's a world of difference between being educated and being trained,” she noted. "The most noble cause in the world is the liberation of the mind and spirit — beginning with our own."

A spectrum of artists — comedians, actors, writers, performers, and others — have all come to Bryant to discuss and practice their craft. Among them are:

• Country-rock singer Linda Ronstadt (1972)
• Rock group Aerosmith (1974)
• Comedian George Carlin (1987)
• Hip-hop group RUN DMC (2000)
• Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Galway Kinnell (2002)
• Filmmaker Ken Burns (2007)
• Rhythm and blues and gospel singer Mavis Staples (2009)
• Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, and Tony award-winning actress Viola Davis (2014)
• Rapper and actor Ludacris (2018)
• Television writer and producer Don Reo (2024), who also donated his scripts to Bryant University

Champions and competitors
When Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Hall of Fame point guard for championship-winning “Showtime” LA Lakers NBA team, entrepreneur, and AIDS activist visited campus, the burden of greatness was on his mind. "When there are down times, I just blink and keep going," he told the crowd, pointing out that the spoils of victory are much sweeter when you have worked hard and sacrificed for them. "When you make your money, you can have all the hamburgers you want."

Magic is not the only champion to have stopped by Smithfield. Others include:

• Tennis player and AIDS activist Arthur Ashe (1985)
• Red Sox slugger and American League MVP Mo Vaughn (1995)
• President and CEO of the Boston Red Sox Larry Lucchino (2009)
• Olympic Gold Medalist gymnasts Dominique Dawes (2009) and Shawn Johnson (2013)
• Third baseman for the 1983 World Series champion Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripken Jr. (2011)
• Power forward for the 2008 Championship Celtics Brian Scalabrine (2018)
• Hall of Fame Red Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley (2018)
• Defenseman for the 2011 Stanley Cup-winning Boston Bruins Zdeno Chara (2020)
• Winner of Jeopardy!’s “Greatest of All Time” Tournament Ken Jennings (2023)
• WNBA Championship-winning Los Angeles Sparks and Olympic medalist Lisa Leslie (2024)

The New England Patriots have their own special connection to Bryant, as they held their training camp on campus from 1976 to 2002, including the year they won their first Super Bowl. During the team’s down time, team owner Robert Kraft and his wife Myra fed the fish in Bryant Pond and players caught bullfrogs.

In 2005, Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick took time off between winning his fifth and sixth Super Bowls to return to campus and offer advice to the Bryant community, followed by linebacker Tedi Bruschi (2009), defensive back Ty Law (2015), Special Teams Captain and wide receiver Matthew Slater (2021), wide receiver Danny Amendola (2018), and others in the succeeding years. In addition, both Kraft and former team owner William Sullivan have received honorary degrees from Bryant.

Special thanks to Adriana Minacapilli, library assistant for collection management and digital services at Bryant University, and the staff of the Douglas and Judith Krupp Library for their assistance with this article.