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Celebrating the Voices That Inspire Bryant
Each year, Bryant University welcomes extraordinary leaders, innovators, and changemakers whose work shapes industries, communities, and the world. These speakers and honorary degree recipients remind us to think boldly, act with purpose, and imagine new possibilities.
We’re proud to announce this year’s Commencement speakers and honorees, leaders whose achievements inspire the next generation of Bryant graduates.
Amy C. Edmondson
Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School
Honorary Doctor of Business Administration
Undergraduate Commencement Address speaker on Saturday, May 16
Amy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that help create successful enterprises and contribute to the betterment of society. She studies teaming, psychological safety, and organizational learning. Her research has been published in 70 scholarly articles and eight books.
Amy’s book Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well was selected as the Financial Times and Schroders Best Business Book of the Year and is being translated into 25 languages. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation and Growth has been translated into 15 languages. Her other books—Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy, Teaming to Innovate, Extreme Teaming, and Building the Future: Big Teaming for Audacious Innovation—explore themes ranging from teamwork in dynamic organizational environments to the challenges and opportunities of teaming across industries for radical innovation.
Amy was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024. She received an honorary doctorate (doctor honoris causa) from Maastricht University in the Netherlands in 2014 and the Columbia University Teachers College Medal for Distinguished Service in 2024. She has been recognized in the biennial Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers since 2011 and was ranked #1 in 2021 and 2023 and #2 in 2025.
Amy received her PhD in organizational behavior (1996), AM in psychology (1995), and AB in engineering and design (1980) from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, George Daley, a physician-scientist and medical school dean; they have two adult sons.
Glenn Creamer
Senior Managing Director Emeritus, Senior Advisor at Providence Equity Partners
Honorary Doctor of Business Administration
Honored at the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 16
Glenn Creamer is a co-founder of Providence Equity Partners and currently serves as a senior advisor to the firm.
Providence Equity is a global private equity firm that has managed more than $33 billion in capital commitments. Over a career spanning more than three decades, Creamer has served on the firm’s management and investment committees and on the boards of numerous public and private companies across North America and Europe.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, where he studied international relations and economics, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Creamer is chairman of the World Affairs Councils of America, the nation’s largest nonpartisan grassroots network dedicated to engaging the public in global affairs, with 90 councils across the United States. He also serves as chairman of the Catholic Relief Services Foundation, which provides humanitarian and development assistance in nearly 100 countries worldwide. In addition, he serves on multiple nonprofit and corporate boards and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Richard B. Leto '73
Former Executive Vice President of Merchandising for Macy’s
Honorary Doctor of Business Administration
Graduate Commencement Address speaker on Thursday, May 14
Richard “Rick” B. Leto ’73 is a respected business leader whose career spans more than three decades in the retail industry, including senior executive roles at leading national brands.
Rick spent 23 years with Macy’s, beginning as an executive trainee recruited on campus at Bryant and rising to Executive Vice President of Merchandising. During his tenure, he helped guide the company through major reengineering efforts that supported Macy’s return to a leadership position among American department stores. He later joined Kohl’s as part of its senior leadership team, where the company grew from approximately $1 billion to more than $10 billion in sales and expanded from a regional chain to a national footprint.
Following his corporate career, Rick worked in private equity, focusing on turning around underperforming businesses. He later shifted his focus to mentoring entrepreneurs, angel investing, and philanthropy.
Rick has since reconnected with Bryant University, providing generous scholarship support and partnering with the University to develop a Health and Nutrition program that has benefited the student body. His career reflects a commitment to leadership, impact, and giving back.