BOSTON—Doug McMillon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart Inc., will be Harvard Business School’s (HBS) Class Day Distinguished Speaker on Thursday, May 27, 2021, the school announced today.
The ceremony, which will be presented virtually on the same day as the broader Harvard University commencement and the conferring of HBS diplomas, will also include a welcome from the co-presidents of the MBA Class of 2021 and a student address.
“The HBS class of 2021 has a lot to be proud of, and I’m excited to be part of this year’s Class Day and celebrate this important moment with them,” said McMillon. “The challenges of the last year shaped their experience, and now they emerge as leaders with a unique perspective and in a position to seize unprecedented opportunities ahead of them to help define and build the future.”
McMillon was named president and CEO of Walmart in February 2014. From February 2009 to Jan. 31, 2014, he was executive vice president, president and CEO of Walmart International, and from August 2005 to January 2009 he served as executive vice president, president and CEO of Sam’s Club. He has worked at Walmart for 30 years, starting as a teenager unloading trucks for an hourly wage. He has held a variety of senior leadership roles in all of Walmart’s business segments.
McMillon is also the chairman of Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of America’s leading companies. He serves on the boards of directors of the Consumer Goods Forum, the U.S.-China Business Council and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. He also sits on the advisory board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing, China.
The HBS Class Day ceremony is planned and conducted by a committee of second-year MBA students. This year’s virtual ceremony will be open to the general public, making it easily accessible for members of the graduating class and their guests as well as HBS alumni, faculty, and staff.
