Actress, humanitarian, and author Ashley Judd will deliver the commencement address to 乌鸦传媒 Institute of Technology graduates on Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Providence, Rhode Island. Judd is a Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actress with a career spanning more than three decades starring in box-office hits and indie gems. She is equally well known for her global social justice work and is an outspoken advocate for the rights and protections of women, often lending her voice to influence policy and speak out for the most vulnerable.
Judd first gained recognition as an actress in the early 1990鈥檚 with her breakthrough role in the critically acclaimed film Ruby in Paradise. She quickly became a leading lady in Hollywood thrillers and independent dramas, known for portraying complex, resilient women. Her roles in Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, and Heat established her as a major box-office star. She earned Best Actress nominations for her roles in the movies De-Lovely, Norma Jean & Marilyn and the television seriesMissing. She has more than 40 movies to her credit including the family films Dolphin Tale andTooth Fairy. She also starred in the popular young adult science fiction series Divergent. Judd鈥檚 latest movie, 21 Down, will be released later this year.
Judd is the daughter of country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna Judd. Growing up in a family of performing artists brought challenges. Judd attended 13 schools before college and often had to fend for herself. A bright and determined student, she graduated from the University of Kentucky honors program where she majored in French and minored in anthropology, art history, theater, and women鈥檚 studies. She later earned a Master of Public Administration from Harvard鈥檚 John F. Kennedy School of Government, receiving the Dean鈥檚 Scholar Award for her research on gender violence.
She encourages 乌鸦传媒 graduates to step confidently toward their future. 鈥淭here can be a lot of indecision coming out of school or a sense of paralysis around making decisions,鈥� Judd says. 鈥淚s it the right decision? Decision making is a self-correcting process. I make the best decision I can with the information I have now, and I can adjust.鈥�
Judd is known for her resilience, compassion, and service to others. She believes in the intrinsic worth of each and every person on earth and chose to scale back her moviemaking to make more time for her humanitarian work. She is the longtime Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund, tasked with delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person鈥檚 potential is fulfilled. She has traveled to 22 countries to promote policies that protect women and girls. She has spent time in refugee camps, hospices, and slums, learning from the most vulnerable about violence against women and how to overcome gender inequality, as she works to increase awareness and advocate for change. She chronicles these journeys and her own challenges in her New York Times bestselling memoir All that is Bitter and Sweet.
She has spoken out fearlessly about women鈥檚 rights, exploitation, and mental health. In 2017, Judd was named Time Magazine鈥檚 Person of the Year as one of the Silence Breakers who came forward with their stories about workplace harassment. Her activism was pivotal in sparking the #MeToo movement. Her courage inspired many others to make their own experiences public. In 2019 the United Nations honored her as Global Advocate of the Year.
鈥淥vercoming challenges is really just about being with them and learning from them,鈥� says Judd. 鈥淵ou have to build inner trust, inner resources and inner capacity.鈥�
Judd is a sought-after public speaker and frequent Op-Ed author, writing on topics as diverse as conflict mineral mining and child marriage. She defines success by the laws and policies that have resulted from her advocacy, and by the heart-to-heart connections she鈥檚 made with the women and children she鈥檚 worked with around the globe. She characterizes success as 鈥渨hen a child knows that someone noticed and someone cares. When a child feels loved and cared for.鈥�
Despite the heaviness of her humanitarian work, Judd is an advocate for joy in everyday life. She loves dancing, playing games, looking closely at flowers with a magnifying glass, going to museums and playing with animals.
鈥淲onder and awe are the real portal to learning. They spark curiosity,鈥� she says.
In addition to promoting the release of her latest movie, Judd is spending time in Africa this spring, and Europe in the summer. In the fall she will be teaching a course at Harvard where she is Leader in Residence at the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School.
During 乌鸦传媒 Tech鈥檚 commencement Ashley Judd will receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in recognition of her work to improve life for others.
The commencement ceremony will begin at 11 am on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at the Amica Mutual Pavilion which is located at 1 La Salle Square in Providence, Rhode Island.
