AW
Admiral William McRaven
University of Texas at Austin, 2014
Work & craftGlobal
"If you want to change the world, start by making your bed."
AA
APJ Abdul Kalam
IITs, NITs, Kumaun University — multiple convocations
Purpose & meaningIndian
"Dream is not what you see while sleeping. It is something that does not let you sleep."
BB
Brené Brown
University of Houston — and multiple addresses
Courage & choicesGlobal
On vulnerability as the birthplace of courage.
BS
Bryan Stevenson
Harvard Law, 2013
Purpose & meaningGlobal
Founder of Equal Justice Initiative — on proximity as the source of power.
CN
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Wellesley College, 2015
Identity & characterGlobal
On the danger of a single story — and on choosing your own narrative.
CR
CNR Rao
Multiple science and university addresses — Bharat Ratna
Work & craftIndian
"India can only be great when its scientists stop apologising for choosing science over money."
DF
David Foster Wallace
Kenyon College — "This Is Water", 2005
Identity & characterGlobal
"Two fish swim past an older fish. He says: How's the water? They look at each other: What the hell is water?"
DA
Dhirubhai Ambani
Public addresses and life testimony — consolidated
Courage & choicesIndian
Petrol pump attendant in Aden at 17. Founder of Reliance Industries at 26. Built India's largest private company from nothing.
JR
J.K. Rowling
Harvard University, 2008
Failure & resilienceGlobal
On the gift of failure and the power of imagination.
JB
Jeff Bezos
Princeton University, 2010
Courage & choicesGlobal
"In the end, we are our choices."
KM
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Multiple entrepreneurship and education addresses — consolidated
Failure & resilienceIndian
She started Biocon in a garage in 1978 with ₹10,000. Every bank refused her a loan.
MY
Malala Yousafzai
Harvard University, 2013
Courage & choicesGlobal
Shot by the Taliban for going to school — and still standing.
MA
Maya Angelou
Multiple addresses — consolidated
Identity & characterGlobal
"You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove."
MS
MS Swaminathan
Multiple addresses on agriculture, science and nation-building — consolidated
Purpose & meaningIndian
Father of India's Green Revolution — who turned a food-deficit nation into a food-surplus one.
NM
Narayana Murthy
IIT Bombay convocation, 2005
Time & focusIndian
On what you will regret at 80 — and what you won't.
NM
Narayana Murthy
Multiple Indian institutional convocations
Work & craftIndian
"Hard work has no substitute — not talent, not luck, not connection."
NG
Neil Gaiman
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, 2012
Courage & choicesGlobal
"Make good art."
OW
Oprah Winfrey
Harvard University, 2013
Failure & resilienceGlobal
On turning failures into signposts.
RR
Raghuram Rajan
University of Chicago Booth and Indian institutional addresses
Identity & characterIndian
On thinking independently in a world that rewards conformity.
RP
Randy Pausch
"The Last Lecture", Carnegie Mellon, 2007
Time & focusGlobal
Delivered while dying of pancreatic cancer — on time as the only non-renewable resource.
RT
Ratan Tata
Various honorary addresses — consolidated
Identity & characterGlobal
On integrity as the one foundation all success must rest on.
RN
Rohini Nilekani
IIM alumni forum and philanthropic addresses — consolidated
Purpose & meaningIndian
"We cannot be mere consumers of good governance. We must be participants. Co-creators."
SN
Satya Nadella
University of Chicago Booth, 2019
Work & craftGlobal
"Geeks who can speak" — on communication as the new currency.
SS
Sheryl Sandberg
UC Berkeley, 2016
Failure & resilienceGlobal
Given a year after the sudden loss of her husband — a talk on building resilience through grief.
SJ
Steve Jobs
Stanford University, 2005
Purpose & meaningGlobal
"Stay hungry. Stay foolish."
SM
Sudha Murthy
Jamnabai Narsee Campus, 2017 — and multiple student addresses
Identity & characterIndian
"Life is an exam where the syllabus is unknown and question papers are not set. Nor are there model answer papers."
SP
Sundar Pichai
IIT Kharagpur alumni address — various
Work & craftGlobal
From a Chennai family without a refrigerator or car — to CEO of Google.
TC
Tim Cook
MIT, 2017
Identity & characterGlobal
"Measure your impact on humanity not in likes, but in lives changed."
TM
Toni Morrison
Wellesley College, 2004
Purpose & meaningGlobal
On the difference between being a success and being of use.
VK
Verghese Kurien
"I Too Had a Dream" — memoir and public addresses
Courage & choicesIndian
He transformed dairy. One determined person, working with the poor, changed the food security of a billion people.