Lesley University is thrilled to announce our 2024 Commencement speaker is renowned naturalist Sy Montgomery. Sy Montgomery has been called by the New York Times “one our finest chroniclers of the natural world.” She is a New England treasure, a conservationist, an adventurist, and the author of 34 books for adults and children, including Of Time and Turtles.
Sy Montgomery doesn’t go halfway. When she wrote about great apes, she got up close, to the point of being chased by a silverback gorilla. She’s been defrocked by an orangutan. In her book The Soul of an Octopus, she examines what it is like to embark upon a relationship with a creature so incredibly different from a human. In Of Time and Turtles, Montgomery takes us inside the Turtle Rescue League of Massachusetts, dedicated to saving injured and neglected turtles, and tells us stories of devotion, healing, and resilience.
Lesley University president Janet Steinmayer says, “I can’t think of a more enchanting and fitting Commencement speaker for Lesley University this spring than Sy Montgomery, who can make us think from an octopus’ perspective, and forever transform the way we see things and our fellow creatures.”
Sy Montgomery doesn’t go halfway, and neither does Lesley University. She truly fulfills the hearts in, hands on approach Lesley University seeks to bring to education, mental health, and the arts. As Lesley University marks 20 years of Creative Writing, 50 years of Expressive Therapies, launches Threshold Lifelong Support, and celebrates everything that makes Lesley University so special, we are delighted to welcome Sy Montgomery as our 2024 Commencement Speaker.